Caretaker economic affairs minister Martijn van Dam has reached a deal on placing surveillance cameras in all Dutch slaughterhouses to make sure animal welfare rules are not being broken.

Van Dam said in March he backed the use of cameras in the wake of the Belgian abattoir scandal, which broke after campaign group Animal Rights took secret videos of pigs being abused and dragged round by their ears.

Van Dam said at the time he hoped the abattoirs would agree to place cameras voluntarily but did not rule out making them a legal requirement.

The new deal involves placing cameras so that live animals can be observed as they progress through the abattoir. The footage will be made available to the food safety board but will not be continually monitored.