Pigs

The Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pigs was released in 2014.

In March 2019 a Code Technical Panel was established to undertake the pig Code’s 5 year review.

The Code Technical Panel (CTP) also needed to address a requirement in Section 1.1.2 of the pig Code that stipulated “greater freedom of movement,” with suitable options being “clarified by the participating stakeholders by July 1, 2019, as informed by scientific evidence.” As such, the decision was made to combine the 5 year Code review process with the Code amendment process , given that an amendment to the pig Code was inevitable. The CTP therefore also served as a Code Amendment Committee with representation from all required participants.

The Five-Year Review Summary Report – Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pigs, completed in August 2020 outlines the complexities of the issues deliberated by the CTP, the agreements and recommendations made (including proposed amendments to the pig Code), projections for group housing, and a detailed literature review of research priorities and gaps that were identified during the 2014 pig Code’s development. It is a broad summary of the work undertaken by the CTP and provides important context for the proposed amendments to the pig Code.

This is a substantial 137 page report. Hence, we’ve developed a “What You Need to Know” clickable document to highlight helpful details and aid in navigating the report.

Proposed amendments to the pig Code were open for a 60-day Public Comment Period (PCP) from September 21, 2020 – November 19, 2020. Subsequent to the public comment period, the Pig Code Amendment Committee has been unable to come to a full consensus on proposed amendments to the 2014 pig Code of Practice. NFACC’s Board has determined that the pig Code amendment will be temporarily set aside pending NFACC undertaking a full review of its governance processes.

The 2014 Code of Practice for the Care, Handling of Pigs and 2012 Scientific Committee report, and other related resources are below.

Committees

Code Amendment Committee members

Participants are defined as per NFACC’s Guiding Principles for Codes of Practice.  

Please note that content in the transportation section of this Code, along with additional transportation-related content (e.g., glossary terms) that had referenced or reflected the outdated version of Part XII (Transport of Animals) in the Health of Animal Regulations (HAR), or the now archived Compromised Animals Policy, has been updated to align with the amended regulations, which took effect on February 20, 2020. Hard copies of the Codes that were printed prior to this alignment will not include these updates. For clarity, Codes that have been updated will include a statement on the front cover that reads “Alignment with Part XII (Transport of Animals) of the Health of Animals Regulations: 2021”.

This update process was strictly aimed at revising existing text that no longer aligned with the amended HAR. Every effort was made to respect the original priorities and decisions of the Code Development Committee (e.g., text from the HAR was not added if it was not covered in the original Code). In case of a discrepancy between the hard copy and online version of a Code, the online version shall take precedence.

There are various ways to view the Code:

• HTML version (or select from the Table of Contents below)
• PDF version (1.9 MB)

There are a limited number of hard copies of this Code. NFACC encourages use of the electronic version and does not store hard copies. If hard copies are required, please contact the Canadian Pork Council.

Other resources

• Scientific Committee report - Review of scientific research on priority issues - July 2012
• Executive Summary: The Science of the Pig Code
• Listen to Catherine Scovil presentation at the NFACC conference - October 2013
• NFACC Code development process
• Animal Welfare Research Needs
• Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA)
• Castration of Piglets – Position Statement

Table of Contents

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