Stores selling pigmeat from banned system, group claims

Imported pigmeat produced using the stall and tether system now banned in Britain is still widely available on the shelves of some supermarkets, animal welfare campaigners said today.

Imported pigmeat produced using the stall and tether system now banned in Britain is still widely available on the shelves of some supermarkets, animal welfare campaigners said today.

A survey of 11 major supermarket companies, by pressure group Compassion In World Farming, found that a number of retailers do not have a policy of selling only stall and tether-free pigmeat for some or all of their branded pigmeat lines.

Sow stalls and tethers, in which the pregnant animals are unable to exercise or turn round for nearly four months at a time, have been banned in the UK since January 1.

This ban is not matched in the rest of the European Union.

The group said pigmeat produced using the system is still being imported from other EU countries such as Denmark and Holland.

CIWF is concerned that some supermarkets are operating patchy policies on animal welfare standards, which cover some types of pigmeat but not others.

This often leads to imported pigmeat, which has been produced in ways that would be illegal in this country, being sold in Britain's supermarkets.

In addition, recent Eurostat figures show that the volume of pigmeat imports into the UK from the European Union rose by 34% in the first five months of this year.

CIWF's campaigns director Philip Lymbery said: "A gaping hole remains in the policies of some supermarkets through which we fear imported pigmeat produced using the extremely cruel sow stall and tether systems could well be offered for sale widely in the UK.

"CIWF urges all retailers to support Britain's newly raised welfare standards by ensuring that pigmeat produced using continental stalls or tethers has no place on the supermarket shelves of our nation."

The survey was carried out through a questionnaire to 11 companies between September 16 and October 29.