27 April, 2012
The British pig industry has warned that many EU
producers won't have put plans in place to cope with the impending
partial ban on sow stalls.
Supporting the sentiment, Compassion for World Farming has
highlighted than eleven nations are unprepared for the new
legislation, when it comes into force on 1 January 2013,
agra-net.com writes. Directive 2008/120/EC mandates that sows
should be placed in 'welfare-friendly' pens, rather than individual
stalls.
Thus far, just Luxembourg, Sweden and the UK are fully
compliant. Lithuania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Ireland,
Germany, Estonia and Denmark are expected to be ready in time. The
remaining member states, however, are said to be 'in disarray'.
Belgium, France and Portugal have failed to provide any detailed
information on their progress, while Poland has been found most
lacking - over 2,000 Polish farms will not be compliant.
Peter Stevenson, chief policy advisor at Compassion explained
his concerns to meatinfo.co.uk: "This should set alarm bells
ringing at the Commission and the 17 member states that are not
going to comply with the ban. They need to get hold of the
situation very quickly to stop this important step for animal
welfare becoming a farce.
"It's unacceptable for so many countries to be behind schedule
when they have known for a long time that these rules would be
coming into force on 1 January. They need to take action now, both
for the welfare of the millions of pigs and to create a fairer
market for UK farmers."
Source: Vertical Leap
