Compassion in World Farming is helping to move animal welfare higher up the agenda in China with the launch of the Good Pig Production Awards.
The awards recognise Chinese producers operating without sow stalls and making significant commitments to welfare improvements for pigs. Eight of the 13 winning pig producers will be awarded at a Compassion event at Westminster in London on 24th September when they visit the UK on a study tour of British pig farms with other Chinese producers. The Awards will also be presented at the ‘2014 China Animal Welfare Forum’1 in Beijing on 11th October.
Compassion has been working in partnership with the International Cooperation Committee of Animal Welfare (ICCAW) in China over the last year developing the award criteria, and assessing potential winners. ICCAW has worked tirelessly advertising the award and administering the 50 or so applicants. This is China’s first award to demonstrate the country is taking animal welfare, food safety and the sustainable development of livestock production more seriously. As part of the ICCAW partnership, Compassion also participated in the development of the first official Code of Practice for pigs in China.
Compassion’s Chief Executive, Philip Lymbery visited China in late 2013 and commented on the changing attitudes of the Chinese people: “The connection between how farm animals are kept and the quality and safety of the resulting food is starting to be recognised in China. It provides us with a real foot in the door to help promote less intensive farming in this, the most populous country on earth.”
China is the world’s largest producer of pigs, rearing 680 million a year – more than half the world’s pig population – and pigmeat is hugely popular, with over sixty percent of all meat produced in China eaten as pork. Meat consumption and production in China has risen exponentially since the mid 2000’s, and with it intensification and large scale farming systems and practices. The number of new mega pig farms in China is growing, many of which incorporate the worst elements of western intensive systems – namely sow stalls and farrowing crates, barren environments and routine mutilations.
Dr Tracey Jones, Compassion’s Director of Food Business, said: “We are delighted to work with ICCAW to launch the Good Pig Production Awards in China. They represent a first step at tackling the welfare issues and standards for pigs in China, to help ebb the flow towards the highly intensive systems and practices that many producers and food companies are turning away from in places like Western Europe, Australia and the US. The award is also an opportunity for winners to lead by example and encourage better care for the millions of pigs on China’s small scale farms.”
To be eligible for an award, producers need to meet five basic requirements which focus on: group housing of sows in the gestation period, providing pigs with a suitable environment (including temperature control and hygiene), as well as meeting several stipulated food safety requirements. The awards are scored from 1 (basic requirements met) to 5 Stars, depending on the number of additional welfare criteria met, either as a current policy or commitment within 5 years, and include: no tail docking, no teeth clipping, no confinement of sows throughout life (including farrowing crates), and the provision of manipulable material and bedding throughout life.
Tracey Jones again: “China has a long way to go to raise its standards of animal welfare, but the interest in the awards, the number of winners, and the will to find sustainable solutions for China, are highly encouraging signals for change. In time we want to engage with the very largest pig operations and connect food companies with producers doing the right thing for welfare, to raise baseline standards from ‘farm to fork’ in China. With that in mind, we look forward to continuing and developing our productive partnership with ICCAW.”
