UK - Castration worries make continental producers wince

As I reported last month castration and fully-slatted floors will be high on the Brussels agenda this year. The threat of restrictions on castration is of only academic interest to British pig producers, as they discontinued the practice over half a decade ago. However it is causing considerable concern to continental producers, most of whom routinely castrate young male pigs without anaesthetic. Agriculture ministers for Sweden, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have expressed the worry that a ban on castration could cause boar taint problems. But if the bland response from health and consumer protection commissioner Markos Kyprianou at last month's agriculture council meeting is anything to go by, the Brussels mandarins are not terribly interested in skatole issues. Dutch and Danish producers believe that castration with anaesthetic is more stressful to young pigs than castration without, as the needle has to be plunged directly into the testicles. The Dutch and Spanish are interested in immunocastration (vaccinating with Improvac) but the Danes say this would not be popular with consumers as it is a hormonal treatment. The main concern is that if Brussels bans castration, without adequate green-boxing, it will lead to a glut of low-welfare third country pork entering Europe as soon as the trade barriers come down.