DEFRA secretary Owen Paterson demands action on sow stalls
DEFRA secretary Owen Paterson has called for vigorous action against countries that flout the EU sow stall ban.
Mr Paterson made the demand as he spoke to Farmers Weekly ahead of a meeting with Irish farm minister Simon Coveney on Monday (28 January).
Ireland, which holds the EU presidency for the first half of 2013, is not expected to comply with the sow stall ban until the summer.
The ban, which outlaws the use of sow stalls in pig production, came into force on 1 January, although the practice has been outlawed in the UK since 1999.
In total, it is believed 10 EU countries have failed to implement the ban – including some of the Continent’s biggest pig producers.
Mr Paterson said he had already met EU health commissioner Tonio Borg, who had expressed determination that all countries comply with the ban.
“We are the good guys in this,” said Mr Paterson, when asked about the impact on British farmers. “We have done this miles before anyone else and our pig farmers are completely exasperated.”
“We are the good guys in this. We have done this miles before anyone else and our pig farmers are completely exasperated.”
DEFRA secretary Owen Paterson
Hopes that the 1 January deadline would herald a level playing field for British farmers had been dashed by the failure of other countries to implement the ban, he explained.
“It is unacceptable that this is an EU-wide law which is not being complied with and I expect everyone to conform,” said Mr Paterson.
Earlier, British pig producers pressed their case for legal action to be taken against European countries that continue to use sow stalls.
An estimated 80% of European pork fails to comply with the animal welfare rules.
“Some 60% of the pork consumed in the UK is foreign – it is not from the UK,” said Zoe Davies, general manager of the National Pig Association (NPA).
“Because of that, we are constantly being flooded by cheap imports from Europe.”
The NPA has set up a website naming British retailers it claims are yet to ensure all of the pork they sell is from farms that comply with the sow stall ban.
NPA to name and shame retailers over sow stall ban