Pig producers are being urged to make sure they respond to the Red Tractor consultation on some significant proposed changes to its standards.
The consultation, which can be viewed HERE, proposes changes across a number of areas, including:
- Welfare Code statutory requirements, covering tail docking, enrichment, accommodation and record keeping.
- Animal welfare, including a requirement for all people involved with pigs to undergo an online training course in handling.
- Animal medicines, including a new draft standard requiring training in medicines and antimicrobial resistance and a new standard requiring persistent high users of antibiotics to implement an antibiotic reduction plan has also been proposed.
- Biosecurity, including new draft standards haimed at minimising the risk of disease spread between and within farms, with members required to sign up to the industry’s Significant Diseases Charter.
The consultation is open until March 5 and Red Tractor is seeking input from across the industry before finalising the scheme standards from November 2021.
Video guidance
Following a request from NPA, it has provided this helpful video, which talks about the key changes that will affect you so you can focus on them.
The NPA has played an important part in shaping the pig sector standards, with the involvement of chief executive Zoe Davies on the technical advisory committee and producer Phil Stephenson representing NPA members on the pork sector board.
Dr Davies said: “This is a significant revision of Red Tractor’s standards and it is really important that members take a good look at the proposals and respond to the consultation by March 5. Red Tractor has made it as easy as possible to make your views known on the individual proposals.
“We will issue our detailed response to the consultation and make it available to members for comment, but it is equally important for individual members to respond too.”