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Organisations representing British pig farmers will adopt a policy of zero-tolerance towards retailers, food manufacturers and caterers that flout European animal welfare law.
Any company importing pork products from countries where pregnant sows are illegally kept in narrow metal cages, where they can hardly move, will be publicly challenged.
The industry will be using isotope technology to check where pork products on sale in Britain come from.
And if they are from any European Union country reported not to be complying with the European Union ban on sow cages, then the business concerned will be challenged to produce a traceability audit, to prove the product does not come from a farm where sows are confined illegally.
As European Union countries have had ten years to prepare for the sow cage ban, Britain's National Pig Association has warned it will accept nothing less than 100 percent compliance.
Its zero tolerance stance is likely to win the full support of the United Kingdom government, which is keen to ensure British farmers are not disadvantaged by law-breakers on the continent producing lower-welfare food.
Sow cages were unilaterally banned in Britain 14 years ago, contributing to a halving of the national pig herd, as British producers struggled to repay conversion costs and compete against cheaper, lower-welfare production from the continent.
Sunday January 13, 2013/ NPA/ United Kingdom.
http://www.pig-world.co.uk/
