Beleaguered UK pig producers are hitting out at rising imports which they claim use production methods which would be illegal in the UK.

A British Pig Executive report shows imports of pork and processed pork products such as bacon rose by 14% in 2003.

Mick Sloyan, BPEX chief executive, said it estimated 70% of the imports come from pigs “raised under conditions that would not conform to UK minimum standards”.

He said a survey of 1,500 consumers showed more than 90% would be concerned that some product would be “illegal to produce in the UK”.

BPEX is now calling for label transparency in all pork products, showing both country of origin and specification.

However, the National Pig Association has called upon the food industry to come clean and label the meat with the words ‘produced under conditions that would be illegal
in Britain’. Stuart Houston, chairman of the NPA, said it was asking retailers to tell them what their sourcing policies were.

He said there was not enough imported UK standard product for all retailers: “There just isn’t enough stuff. A lot have switched to tertiary brands.”

He said the UK pig industry was beginning to undergo a fragile recovery, and any downward pressure on price from cheaper imports could damage any growing confidence. However, some importers said British producers’ tactics were unproductive for the industry.

Robert Smith, MD of the Dutch Meat Board, said: “Using ‘illegal’, most consumers would assume a food safety issue. That’s a dangerous road to go down. Let’s really scare people off pork. There’s a concern they’ve assumed copyright on the word welfare. How would consumers react to the fact Dutch weaners and piglets have more floor space than British?”

He added Dutch producers were meeting market demands but they supported the need for clearer labelling.

John Howard, marketing director with the Danish Bacon and Meat Council, said the report highlighted the fact the Danish producers had a UK contract, but said the Danes made no secret that not all the bacon coming into the UK was produced under that contract.

He added: “However, we would reject any inference of lower standards. All our producers are subject to restrictions. We don’t use antibiotic growth promoters.”

Meanwhile, meat bosses are waiting for approval from Brussels for a relaunch of the British Quality Standard mark for pork. Insiders said the hope was approval was imminent which could mean a relaunch of the mark in the summer with a heavy promotion campaign.
Ed Bedington

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