Titled ‘China and EU collaboration on Pig Welfare’, the event brought together representatives from CiWF and the International Cooperation Committee of Animal Welfare (ICCAW), as well as pig industry experts, and Chinese producers.
Dr Tracey Jones, director of Food Business at CiWF, detailed five steps producers could take to improve the welfare of their pigs. These included the importance of recognising pig welfare in its holistic form, and paying attention to mention wellbeing and behavioural expression in addition to physical wellbeing.
“Many people think animal welfare is just physical wellbeing and forget about the other two,” she said. Other steps included investing in solutions to any problems identified, and to trial solutions before implementing them.
As part of the event, 13 Chinese pig producers were also named winners of the first Good Pig Production Awards, in recognition of their efforts to improve animal welfare.
Following visits to businesses in China that had applied for the awards, Phil Brooke, research and education officer at CiWF, highlighted some of the good practices he had witnessed.
He said that some of the methods used to reduce aggression between sows included keeping them in stable groups with the same sows so they recognise each other, and to use electronic feeders in order to reduce stress. Other tips included giving them an additional foraging area, and providing outdoor space with fibrous content. “Happier sows produce more milk and healthier piglets,” he added.
During his keynote speech, Philip Lymbery, chief executive, CiWF, said that through its work with ICCAW “we have an example of world-beating collaboration”. He said that the day’s event was “historical” because it shows growing recognition of what animal welfare is.
“It shows that improving animal welfare leads to a better-quality product,” he said, adding that these improvements enabled producers “to take up trade opportunities on the international stage”.
Xi Chunling, executive president, ICCAW, said that “with collaboration it will bring a bright future”, and said she “hopes to take good practices back to China”.
Around 680 million pigs are reared in China each year – more than half the world’s pig population – with pork making up more than 60% of all the meat produced in China.
CiWF has been working in collaboration with government-backed organisation ICCAW to develop these awards over the past year. As part of the partnership, CiWF also participated in the development of the first official Code of Practice for Pigs in China.