Brussels, 20/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - In Luxembourg on Tuesday, the EU Agriculture Council reached a qualified majority agreement on a proposal aimed at improving the minimum standards for the protection of pigs in intensive farming. The entry into force of this new regulation is set for 2013 (as against 2012 in the initial proposal), whereas certain essential provisions will apply to recently built farms from 1 January 2003 already (the Commission proposed 2002). According to the compromise text, the new farms will have to respect the following requirements in 2003: - total surface area of free space for gilts after servicing and sows should be, respectively, 1.64 sq meters and 2.25 sq meters (this was not provided for in the original proposal); - floors for sows and gilts must be fully covered, 15% of which reserved for openings for evacuation (against 10% in the initial proposal); - prohibition of tethering gilts and sows from 1 January 2006. Exemptions, however, were not introduced concerning banning the use of individual stalls and permanent access, for sows and gilts, to materials for rooting.
The draft amendment to the 1991 directive initially provided for: - a ban on the use of individual stalls for pregnant sows and gestating gilts until 7 days before slaughter; - ban on the tethering of sows and gilts; - compulsory permanent access to materials for rooting; - precise requirements on floor covering with a separation of areas for evacuation, those for rest and those for feeding. This new directive is based on national legislation of five Member States (United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Finland) that are more restrictive than the 1991 Community legislation.