Following work by UK industry lobbying group the National Pig Association, a number of major food organisations have pledged to adhere to new European welfare standards when legislation is introduced next year. The caterers have promised to source pig products only from suppliers who are compliant with new welfare laws governing sow stalls, which, in a depressing repeat of the Welfare of Laying Hens Directive introduced in January, looks likely to be widely flouted.

The partial stalls ban will enter into effect on 1st January 2013, though stalls have been outlawed in Britain and Sweden for over a decade years. To date, only Britain, Sweden and Luxembourg have informed the Commission that they will be compliant by the beginning of next year.

However, the Eruopean Commission is expected to be stricter in dealing with states which do not meet the deadline next year, following criticism of its handling of the bungled battery cage ban; when the ban came into force in January over half of the EU’s 27 member states were not compliant.  

British pig industry groups have expressed concern over the impact widespread non-compliance could have on sales of pig products in the EU, they fear that non-compliant producers could undercut more conscientious producers in the wider bloc and the UK specifically, where around half of the pork supply originates in mainland Europe. The industry has successfully campaigned to ensure Eruopean farmers who are compliant are supported by retailers and caterers.

Commission officials have speculated that as many as a third of pig producers in the EU could still be producing pork illegally after the January deadline. The ban only protects pigs after the first four weeks of pregnancy, during which they can still be kept in sow stalls, which experts have said can have detrimental physical and mental effects for the sows.

Stuart Houston, chair of British industry body BPEX, said industry representatives will now discuss the various pledges that have been made in more detail, to ensure they will be honoured. Among the organisations which met with British industry leaders were the British Retail Consortium, the Food and Drink Federation, the Provision Trade Federation, the British Hospitality Association, the Danish Agriculture and Food Council and the British Meat Processors Association.

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