Brussels, 20/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - At the Agriculture Council meeting on Thursday 26 April, the European Commission will be ringing the alarm bell because more than half of EU member states are likely to miss the deadline for abiding by the EU regulation on the welfare of gestating sows, 1 January 2013. Only 12 countries are expected to be up to scratch by January and only three already meet the requirements - the United Kingdom, Luxembourg and Sweden.
Of the other member states, 13 comply with more than 70% of the new rules, but three other countries are not even able to provide information to the European Commission, which will be launching infringement proceedings against countries not respecting the new rules. Research by the National Pig Association, the main pig-farmers' organisation in the United Kingdom, estimates that meeting the new rules will cause disturbances in the pig and pork market, as is already being seen with eggs. The most likely scenario is that EU pig production will fall by 5% in 2013, when the new animal welfare rules come into force, leading to price increases of 10%. In another scenario, production in the EU would fall by 10%, forcing the EU to increase its imports of pork. (LC/transl.fl)