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The Commission has stepped up calls on Member States to ensure that the ban on individual sow stalls is fully applied from 1 January 2013. Council Directive 2008/120/EC on the protection of pigs requires that sows and gilts (immature female pigs) are kept in groups during approximately 2 months and a half of their pregnancy in all pig holdings keeping 10 sows or more from 1 January 2013. As a result, pigs will be moved from individual narrow stalls to more welfare friendly systems.
Member States are at the front line for the implementation of Council Directive 2008/120/EC and have had since 2001 to ensure that the rules are applied by the farming industry. Three Member States (UK, Sweden and Luxembourg) have so far indicated that they already comply with the impending ban, while data provided by the member States to the Commission shows that 16 of them should have complied by the time it comes into force.
The Commission has made repeated calls over the last year to flag the imminent deadline when it became clear that many Member States were still not compliant.
Next steps:
The Commission will continue to highlight to Member States the importance of urgently taking all the necessary measures to ensure compliance with Council Directive 2008/120/EC and continue to provide transparent and harmonised data on the implementation of group housing of sows.
Thursday April 26, 2012/ European Commission.
http://europa.eu/
