Anne McIntosh

Conservative Party | Vale of York

ANNE McINTOSH MP SIGNS GIANT PIG AT WESTMINSTER

Anne McIntosh MP has shown her support for a campaign by UK pig farmers to highlight how cheap, low welfare imports are deceiving consumers and damaging the UK pig industry.  Anne McIntosh MP signed the giant “Trojan” pig that spent an evening in the gardens of Westminster Abbey as part of the national campaign.

In 2005 over 850,000 tonnes of pigmeat was imported into the UK and 70% of this would have been illegal to produce in the UK due to higher welfare standards. However imports remain legal due to EU law.

Much of this pork is unclearly labelled, which farmers fear could lead consumers to believe it was produced from UK pigs. In some stores less than half of imported pork, bacon, ham and sausages is clearly labelled and many well known brands fail to include origin labelling on their packaging.1

Research indicates that British consumers support pig farmers.  Over 90% of consumers believe that all pork should be produced to UK welfare standards and that it should not be imported if it does not meet UK standards.2

Barney Kay of the National Pig Association, which is running the campaign said: said, “Just as the Greeks used a giant wooden horse to sneak soldiers into Troy, cheap, low welfare imports are being slipped in under the noses of unwitting British shoppers due to unclear labels. We hope our Trojan Pig will raise awareness of the issue and encourage shoppers to look for the Quality Standard Mark when buying pork, bacon, sausages and ham. This guarantees the highest standards of food safety and animal welfare.

Anne McIntosh MP said: “This is a campaign about ensuring a level playing field for British pig farmers. It is not an anti-imports campaign. Unclear labelling gives importers an advantage, deceives British consumers and damages our own pig industry.”

The Trojan Pig is currently visiting towns and cities across the UK to raise awareness of the issue of cheap, lower welfare imports. 

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Notes to Editors

1 BPEX Labelling Report, ‘A Review of the labelling of country of origin of pork and pork products’, June 2006

2 BPEX, ‘An Analysis of Pork and Pork Products Imported into the United Kingdom’, April 2006

The UK Government passed legislation banning the use of stalls in pig farming as long ago as 1999.  But stalls are still used in all other EU countries (except Sweden) and imports to the UK remain perfectly legal. This creates an uneven playing field as supermarkets can source cheaper pork, bacon, ham and sausages produced by EU farmers with welfare practices that would not be acceptable in the UK.