Producers will require a new veterinary certificates showing that pigs have been farmed separately from wild cloven-hoofed animals in order to enable pork exports to continue next year.
When the transition period ends on January 1, 2021, the UK will be treated as a third country by the EU and will therefore have to jump through ‘a whole new load of hoops if we want to continue to trade with them, NPA chief executive Zoe Davies said.
The NPA has been working hard with Defra and other organisations on a number of issues related to this, including trying to get listed in a way that does not mean every carcase has to be tested for Trichinella in order for pork exports to be allowed.
“There is also another issue that none of us ever thought would cause as much of a problem as it has – and that is the clause which states that the pig has, from birth, been kept separate from wild cloven hoofed animal,” Dr Davies said.
“Now in order for the official vet to sign such a statement, there needs to be evidence, and this is what we have been working on with the vets, AHDB, BPA, Defra, FSA, FSS and processors.
“In truth it should be relatively simple to prove that your pigs have not been charging about in the woods with a load of wild pigs or deer, but there now needs to be a way of proving it.
“To that end, your private vet will now be asked to issue you a statement (where appropriate) stating that your pigs have indeed been farmed separately from wild cloven hoofed animals with appropriate housing/fencing.”
This will require producers to do two things:
- Update your production information held in Pig Hub by indicating that you have a quarterly vet statement which confirms the above (this information will feed into eAML2and your licence).
- Confirm on the eAML2 online form that the pigs you are shipping have also been farmed separately from wild cloven hoofed animals from birth – by doing this you are also confirming that the pigs have been farmed separately on suppliers farms if they weren’t born on your unit. However, if your entire supply chain is Red Tractor assured then you will be able to automatically answer ‘yes’ to this question.
If you submit your movements on a CSV file via the eAML gateway (sent to movements@eaml2.org.uk) you will need to ensure:
- All your holdings are updated with the confirmation that you have the new Quarterly Veterinarian Certification on Pig Hub.
- You need to ensure that you use the new CSV template which can be downloaded from eAML system
The record for your pigs will be passed through the eAML2 system as part of the Food Chain Information (FCI) to attest that the pig has been kept separate from wild ungulates throughout its life.
“This is needed so that the vet at the abattoir can sign the EHC and so the pork can be exported. The vet certificate will be re-issued roughly every three months but will stay with you – this will need to be kept in case the processor is audited as some point by the EU,” Dr Davies explained.
“I know it seems like a total rigmarole, but it was the easiest fix we could find in the short time we had to allow pig meat to continue to be exported from January 1.
“We are hoping that further discussion with the UK Chief Vet and her EU counterparts will in time remove the need for such a requirement, but for now we are where we are and at least we will still have an export market!”