The FSA has delayed the introduction of a new Trichinella testing regime for the pig meat supply chain that was due to begin on June 1.
The implementation was debated by the FSA board last Friday. It recognised that there was a low awareness of, and capability for, the changes
to Trichinella testing, and therefore agreed that further work needed to be done with the aim of being compliant by the end of October this year.
There’s concern in the pig industry because, under the current proposals, producers will have to declare if pigs are produced in “controlled housing conditions”. Those that aren’t will need to tested for Trichinella, and held at the abattoir until the results are known.
The NPA argues that this is impractical, especially as there’s no evidence of a Trichinella problem in the UK, and will result in extra costs being passed vack to producers.