New veterinary rules for pigs’ welfare were approved by order of the Ministry of Agriculture

The document will enter into force on January 1, 2021 and will be valid until December 31, 2026, it is published on the official portal of legal information, the magazine “Veterinary and Life” reports.

Veterinary rules will regulate pigs’ welfare in personal subsidiary farms, on small farms and in large pig breeding complexes.

As previously noted in the RF Ministry of Agriculture, the new requirements are aimed at reducing the risks of the spread of contagious diseases, including especially dangerous ones, with uncontrolled and disordered pig livestock management.

So, the rules do not allow "pigs housing in farms located on the sites of former animal dead piles, treatment facilities, solid waste landfills, leather processing and manure storage facilities."

Such territories can be a source of infection. For example, the African swine fever virus is resistant to rotting and drying and can persist in soil for up to 200 days.

Also, farms should ensure indoor breeding of pigs. Outdoor run for pigs is allowed only under sheltered space, without contact of pigs with other animals, including fowls. Under the new requirements, buildings for quarantine of pigs should be located at least 200 meters from other pig breeding rooms.

The current rules approved in 2016 will be invalidated under the "regulatory guillotine." "To date, they have lost relevance in connection with the development of pig management technologies, which entails unreasonable costs from owners' side," the consolidated report to the document said.

SOURCE: Sfera FM (based on the materials of the "Veterinary and Life" magazine)