Michael Gove made a pig's ear of it over EU animal rules, say farmers

Environment secretary’s claim that directive on tagging prevented UK from capitalising on Chinese demand dismissed

Michael Gove has been accused of making a pig’s ear of his explanation of EU animal rules, after farmers dismissed his claims that Brussels was stopping them bringing home the bacon.

Speaking at a fringe event at the Conservative party conference this week, the environment secretary said Britain had been unable to capitalise on Chinese demand for the “delicacy” of pigs’ ears because of EU rules on piercings.

He said one of the reasons” why Britain had not been “as successful as we might have been at selling pigs’ ears to China is that EU rules dictate that pigs, like all livestock, have ear tags”. He said that outside of the EU this would not be necessary, meaning that “by selling more sows’ ears to China we can buy more silk purses for British farmers”.

EU rules on food traceability, however, do not mandate that pigs’ ears must be pierced. A 2008 EU directive states that pigs must be marked “with an ear tag or tattoo to determine the holding from which they came”.

The British Agriculture Bureau in Brussels said UK farmers did not ear-tag “finisher pigs” (those destined for slaughter), preferring “slap marking” tattoos on the animal’s shoulder. “So anything going to China would not have an ear tag,” the spokesperson added.

Typically, farmers only tag the ears of breeding sows, most of which are turned into paté or pet food at the end of their lives.

British pig meat exports hit a 17-year high in 2016, boosted by a deal with China. According to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, the UK shipped 206,000 tonnes of pig meat in 2016, the largest amount since 1999.

In August 2016, the UK signed a market access deal with China, which was hailed by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs ministers as offering a £200m boost to the UK pigmeat industry, supporting 1,500 jobs. The China deal opens the way to mass-market sales of pig parts that are not prized by British consumers, including heads, hearts and trotters.

China has overtaken Germany as the UK’s biggest single-country export market for pig meat, although the EU market remains three times larger.

Zoe Davis, chief executive of the National Pig Association, said the industry would welcome “any opportunity to look at modernising traceability rules post-Brexit”.

Defra has been approached for comment.

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