Former Defra Secretary George Eustice has launched a blistering attack on former Prime Minister and International  Trade Secretary Liz Truss over her handling of the Australian trade deal.

The deal included giving Australia or New Zealand full access to the UK market to the beef and sheep market, albeit phased in over 15 years. Yet Australia still bans the import of British beef and there was virtually nothing in return for UK farmers. The Government estimated the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement, signed on 17 December 2021, would unlock £10.4bn of additional trade while ending tariffs on all UK exports to Australia.

While pork was not a part of the deal, with Australia not being significant exporters, the fear within the pig industry was that could set a dangerous precedent in future trade deals.

Mr Eustice, who was sacked by Mrs Truss when she became Prime Minister, told a Commons debate that it was a bad deal for the UK, especially its farmers, and stressed that lessons need to be learned as the UK negotiates future deals.

“Unless we recognise the failures that the Department for International Trade made during the Australia negotiations, we won’t be able to learn the lessons of future negotiations,” he said.

“The first step is to recognise that the Australia trade deal is not actually a very good deal for the UK.”

 

by Alistair Driver / Pig World

Just confirmed today, the requirement for veterinary visits attestations  for export certs pushed back another year to 13/12/23

Certification of ‘regular vet visits’ for EU exports or NI movements

Date issued: 16 November 2022

Purpose
To inform Official Veterinarians (OVs) and other veterinary certifiers that for export of Products of Animal Origin (POAO) to the EU, the EU requirement for farms of origin to have a regular veterinary visit can be certified as follows:
i. Until 13 December 2023, this EU requirement can continue to be certified based on a farmer declaration.

ii. After 13 December 2023, farmer declarations will no longer be accepted and this EU requirement must be certified based on other evidence such as membership of a recognised farm assurance scheme or via a valid veterinary declaration.
The relevant official Notes for Guidance will be updated in due course to reflect this 12-month extension to the previous temporary policy.

Background
1. The EU Animal Health Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/429) created a new
requirement for farms producing animals or products of animal origin or germinal
products for export to the EU (or movements to Northern Ireland under the conditions
of the Northern Ireland Protocol) to be subject to ‘regular’ veterinary visits.

This is implemented by Article 8(e) Delegated Regulation 2020/692.
“must receive regular animal health visits from a veterinarian for the purpose of the
detection of, and information on, signs indicative of the occurrence of diseases,
including those listed diseases referred to in Annex I relevant for the particular species
and category of animal, germinal product or product of animal origin and emerging diseases.

Such animal health visits shall take place at frequencies that are
proportionate to the risks posed by the establishment concerned.”

2. Official Veterinarians (OVs) have had to certify compliance with this new requirement
since 15 January 2022.

3. Farmers only need to comply with this requirement if they are providing relevant animals
or products for export to the EU or for movements to Northern Ireland.

4. The regular veterinary visit requirement can be certified if the farm of origin is a
member of a recognised assurance including Red Tractor, Welsh Beef and Lamb
Producers and/or Quality Meat Scotland. A list of qualifying farm assurance schemes
has been published and will be reviewed on a regular basis.

5. The regular veterinary visit requirement can also be certified on the basis of a valid
veterinary declaration. A template Establishment Veterinary Visitation Declaration for
this purpose can be found on APHA Vet Gateway (ET242).

6. Until 13 December 2023, for farms that are not part of a recognised farm assurance
scheme and are not able to provide a valid veterinary declaration, a farmer declaration
can instead continue to be used to support certification of the EU ‘regular veterinary visit’
requirement. This can be provided via the Food Chain Information (FCI) document.

7. Farmers must use the available time to choose either to exclude their animals or products
from EU export, join a recognised farm assurance scheme or obtain an appropriate
veterinary declaration.

8. Defra will work closely with Official Veterinarians, the Royal College of Veterinary
Surgeons, farmers, markets and exporters to facilitate, where required, provision of
veterinary declarations to certifying OVs. We will issue further guidance in due course.

Action
Official Veterinarians (OVs) and certifiers providing Support Health Attestations at abattoirs
should note the updated guidance on certification of the EU requirement for regular
veterinary visits.
For further information please contact [email protected].

 

Gov.uk

 

By Amy Phipps / BBC

Food Standards Agency (FSA) staff will not be striking over pay in the run up to Christmas, following a ballot of UNISON members, in what will come as a huge relief to the meat industry.

UNISON, the UK’s largest union, had warned that the dispute involving several hundred inspectors, vets, and office-based staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland could result in strikes in the run up to and over Christmas leading to less meat on supermarket shelves.

Earlier in the year, FSA staff voted to reject a pay offer of between 2% and 5%. UNISON said this was significantly lower than inflation, currently 9.9%, and falls short of the 10% pay claim it put forward.

But the three-week ballot of FSA employees, which closed on Monday (October 31), fell short of the numbers required to bring about strike action.

A UNISON spokesperson said: “Staff showed strong support for taking action over their inadequate pay offer, but by the narrowest possible margin, turnout didn’t meet the legal threshold.”

 

 

by Alistair Driver / Pig World

A national housing order will be introduced across England on Monday 7 November making it a legal requirement to house flocks.

Mandatory housing measures for all poultry and captive birds are to be introduced to all areas of England from 00:01 on Monday 7 November, following a decision by the United Kingdom’s Chief Veterinary Officer.

The housing measures legally require all bird keepers to keep their birds indoors and to follow stringent biosecurity measures to help protect their flocks from the disease, regardless of type or size.

The order will extend the mandatory housing measures already in force in the hot spot area of Suffolk, Norfolk and parts of Essex to the whole of England following an increase in the national risk of bird flu in wild birds to very high.

Over the last year, the United Kingdom has faced its largest ever outbreak of avian influenza with over 200 cases confirmed since late October 2021. The introduction of the housing measures comes after the disease was detected at over 70 premises since the beginning of October, as well as multiple reports in wild birds.

The Chief Veterinary Officer is now encouraging all bird keepers across England to use the week to prepare, including taking steps to safeguard animal welfare, consult their private vet and expand housing where necessary.

The United Kingdom’s Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss said:

We are now facing this year, the largest ever outbreak of bird flu and are seeing rapid escalation in the number of cases on commercial farms and in backyard birds across England. The risk of kept birds being exposed to disease has reached a point where it is now necessary for all birds to be housed until further notice.

Scrupulous biosecurity and separating flocks in all ways, from wild birds remain the best form of defence. Whether you keep just a few birds or thousands, from Monday 7 November onwards you must keep your indoors. This decision has not been taken lightly, but is the best way to protect your birds from this highly infectious disease.

Evidence shows that housing birds reduces the risk of kept birds being infected with bird flu. However, housing alone will not protect birds and all keepers must still follow the other enhanced biosecurity measures mandated by the AIPZ at all times to protect their flocks and prevent the risk of future outbreaks which is circulating in wild birds. Housing combined with stringent biosecurity measures can provide even greater reduction in risk.

The new housing measures build on the strengthened biosecurity measures that were brought in as part of the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) earlier this month. The AIPZ means that all bird keepers need to take extra precautions, such as restricting access for non-essential people on site, ensuring workers change clothing and footwear before entering bird enclosures and cleaning and disinfecting vehicles regularly to limit the risk of the disease spreading.

The UK Health Security Agency continue to advise that the risk to public health from the virus is very low and the Food Standards Agency advice remains unchanged, that avian influenzas pose a very low food safety risk for UK consumers. Properly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, are safe to eat.

continues..

Gov.uk

Authorities such as the Food Standards Agency (FSA) are struggling with a skills gap after the United Kingdom left the European Union, according to a report.

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee said there is a problem for agencies in recruiting and keeping the skills needed to regulate effectively in their new and expanded roles.

There is a shortage of veterinarians to monitor food safety and animal welfare in abattoirs and toxicologists to assess food risks and chemical safety – increasing the risks for consumers.

A lack of vets in abattoirs driven by increased demand led to temporary measures in autumn 2021 to ensure there was enough staff. FSA is reviewing the pay and conditions to make the career more attractive. About 95 percent of vets provided by Eville and Jones are from abroad.

The FSA has written to abattoir and cutting plant owners about potential changes for how controls are delivered through official veterinarians.

Junior Johnson, FSA director of operations, said: “Despite challenges in veterinary recruitment, the agency has maintained full and ongoing service delivery of official controls in abattoirs and there has been no interruption in service to date.

“Official veterinarians are however, in very short supply, and we are working with partners to find solutions to what is a systemic resourcing issue so that the FSA can continue to provide a reliable service to industry and uphold food safety, protect animal health and welfare, and enable businesses to sell food domestically and abroad.”

 

Food Safety News

A new pork advertising campaign by the AHDB has been rolled out with an aim to ‘feed the family for less’ as the cost-of-living crisis continues.

As consumer demand for affordable meals grows, the levy organisation’s autumn pork marketing campaign launches with new messaging, running from 17 October until 25 November 2022.

The adverts aim to encourage the public to back farmers by purchasing economical cuts of pork to create everyday, affordable dishes.

The campaign, which has been running for six years, also aims to raise awareness of pork’s positive role in healthy meal choices during the current cost-of-living crisis.

New recipes included in the campaign will feed a family of four for under £5, the AHDB says, with some recipes costing less than £1 per person using pork cuts such as the shoulder, sausages, and lean mince.

Consumers will see the adverts online, across social media, during on-demand TV shows, in the aisles and websites of eight supermarket chains.

 

by Farming UK

Weekly pig prices, slaughter data for Great Britain

The EU-spec GB SPP continued moving in the right direction in the week ended October 8, inching up by 0.18p to reach 200.55p/kg.

This is the second successive weekly increase, following the reverse in the week ended September 24 and means the SPP has risen by less than 0.6p over the past four weeks as the upward trajectory slows, and means the index is 44p on a year ago.

The APP was back up by nearly a penny, 0.9p, for the week ended October 1. At 203.57p/kg, the gap between it and the SPP was just 3.2p.

The context is, of course, that average prices remain below average costs, estimated by AHDB at 221p/kg for August.

The EU price is critical to the UK market and the large gulf between the UK and EU prices over the summer has contributed to increased volumes of pork imports. As EU prices have risen that gap has closed in recent weeks.

For the week ending October 2, the EU Reference stood at just short of 187p/kg, compared with a UK reference price of 200.7p/kg, the gap of under 14p comparing with more than 30p at some points in August. However, the rise in EU prices has stalled, with some key producers recording falls in recent weeks.

 

Pig World / AHDB

Processors blamed lacklustre retail demand for British pork for poor uptake of pigs last week, according to Thames Valley Cambac. 

TVC described the 19% year-on-year increase in pork import volumes, as highlighted in the last issue of Pig World, as ‘disappointing’, but noted that this level of imports matches pre Covid levels, while the same reporting period shows exports have increased.

“Supplies continue to tighten as producers leave the industry, but slaughter weights are creeping back up, as processors keep number allocations tight,” TVC said in its latest market update.

Price contributions stood on, and the SPP improved 0.36p to 200.37p, but pig returns are still way below cost of production and, unfortunately, industry exits continue.

Prices in Europe eased again with the Netherlands down 7 eurocents – a realignment following Germany’s fall last week. The Euro ended the week down 0.92p at 87.38p.

There was little weaner demand outside regular contract commitments, as raw materials remain volatile and uncertainty in the finished market leaves fatteners with little confidence. There was insufficient data for the AHDB to formulate any prices.

 

Alistair Driver / Pig World

British lamb has now been exported to the United States for the first time in over 20 years, in a deal estimated to be worth £37m in the first five years of trade.

The first consignment since the deal was struck last year was flown to the US this week, containing lamb produced by processors Dunbia from its site in Carmarthenshire.

A ban on British lamb exports to the US had been in place since 1989 due to concerns around BSE, commonly known as ‘mad cow disease’.

The small ruminant rule that banned the product was rescinded by the US government in January of this year.

The industry estimates that the US market will be worth £37m in the first five years of trade, opening up access for farmers to a market of over 300m consumers.

Andrew Smyth, commercial director at Dunbia said: “As the largest processor of lamb in the UK, it is imperative we continue to have access to new and emerging international markets, and we welcome the small ruminant rule amendment.

“We continue to work closely with AHDB to identify and develop new market opportunities for our quality British produce.”

 

Farming UK