UK campaign threat to Irish pigmeat exports

The British pig industry has launched a campaign against imported pork and pork products from farms non-compliant with the EU welfare directive which banned keeping sows in stalls from Jan 1 last.

The campaign threatens Ireland’s pigmeat exports to the UK, worth about €265m per year, or 58% of our total pigmeat exports.

Britain’s National Pig Association (NPA) has said only 13 countries were sow stall ban-compliant, and has mounted a ‘Wall of Fame’ campaign to persuade retailers and food companies to promise not to import pork and pork products from non-compliant farms.

According to recent European Commission data, the fully sow stall compliant member states are Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and the UK (where sow stalls have been banned since 1999).

The NPA’s campaign seems to be directed primarily at continental non-compliant farms. In Ireland, the vast majority of pig producers have undertaken the necessary work to comply with the new rules, and the Department of Agriculture’s veterinary inspectors are following up with the remaining producers in order to ensure full compliance at an early date, said Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney recently.

Britain imports around 60% of its processed pork. The NPA’s ‘Wall of Fame’ campaign asks companies to pledge that all the pork products they use or sell are sourced from farms that are compliant with Council Directive 2008/120/EC laying down minimum standards for the protection of pigs.