The proposed law aims to ramp up controls in France's nearly 1,000 slaughterhouses | Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty Images French parliament votes for slaughterhouse cameras The law aims to improve animal welfare.

French parliamentarians Thursday night voted to mandate video surveillance in slaughterhouses from 2018 after a year of shocking revelations about abattoir conditions.

The proposed law aims to ramp up controls in France's nearly 1,000 slaughterhouses, which came under intense scrutiny in 2016 after activist groups — most notably L214 — published footage of a number of slaughterhouses killing animals without stunning them first.

If passed, authorities would install video cameras in all areas of slaughterhouses where live animals are handled, including during transport, stabling and stunning. Footage would be held for one month and be viewable only by veterinarians or animal-welfare inspectors.

Twenty eight French MPs voted in favor of the rules, while four opposed them. The vote passed in a first reading but must still clear the French Senate before becoming law.

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