Germany moving towards non-castrating policy for pork
11.07.2012
Germany, Europe’s largest and most important pig market, is gradually moving towards a pork market without castrating male piglets.
An increasing amount of relevant parties are observed to be involved. This became clear at a fifth meeting between representatives of the German and Dutch pig industries, in the end of last month.
Gé Backus, manager Consumer and Behaviour at Wageningen UR‘s Agricultural Economic Research Institute, the Netherlands, stated that scientific surveys in both the Netherlands as Germany support the view that meat from uncastrated boars is being accecpted by the market.
Germany would like to ban unanaesthesised castration as from 2017. According to the voluntary and ambitious Declaration of Brussels, the European Union as a whole will stop castrating as from 2018.
