Have your say
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) are consulting on proposed changes to how pigs are farmed in New Zealand. Among the proposals are changes to the use of farrowing crates and the amount of space that needs to be provided for grower and weaner pigs.
Farmers and the public have an important role in providing feedback on the new draft code of welfare for pigs and we encourage people to do so.
NAWAC's review of the Code followed a High Court ruling on farrowing crates and mating stalls and prompted a closer look at how pork is produced in New Zealand. The High Court recommended introducing new rules regarding their use, and the Government agreed to phase out their use by 2025.
Consultation opened on 29 April and closes on 8 July 2022.
Consultation document
Proposed Code of Welfare for Pigs and associated regulations [PDF, 951 KB]
Related documents
NAWAC proposed Code of Welfare for Pigs [PDF, 547 KB]
NAWAC evaluation of the Code of Welfare for Pigs [PDF, 1.7 MB]
NAWAC five domains analysis [PDF, 1.3 MB]
Economic analysis of proposed changes to the Code of Welfare for Pigs [PDF, 595 KB]
What's being proposed?
A number of changes are being proposed. They include:
- prohibiting or restricting of the use of farrowing crates
- restricting the use of mating stalls
- requiring manipulable (nesting) material to be provided prior to farrowing
- increased space allowances for grower and weaner pigs
- increased the weaning age from 21 to 28 days.
Making your submission
Email your feedback on the proposals by 5pm on 8 July 2022 to animal.consult@mpi.govt.nz
You can use our online survey to make a submission.
While we prefer email, you can post written submissions to:
Code of Welfare Pigs Submission
Animal Welfare Policy team
Ministry for Primary Industries
PO Box 2526
Wellington 6140
New Zealand.
What to include
Make sure you tell us in your submission:
- the title of the consultation document (Proposed Code of Welfare for Pigs and associated regulations)
- which section of the joint consultation document you are commenting on – the NAWAC or MPI proposals
- your name, title and relationship to pork production (for example, farmer, veterinarian, animal advocate, consumer)
- your organisation's name (if you are submitting on behalf of an organisation, and whether your submission represents the whole organisation or a section of it)
- your contact details (such as phone number, address, and email).
Submissions are public information
Note that all, part, or a summary of your submission may be published on this website. Most often this happens when we issue a document that reviews the submissions received.
People can also ask for copies of submissions under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). The OIA says we must make the content of submissions available unless we have good reason for withholding it. Those reasons are detailed in sections 6 and 9 of the Act.
If you think there are grounds to withhold specific information from publication, make this clear in your submission or contact us. Reasons may include that it discloses commercially sensitive or personal information. However, any decision MPI makes to withhold details can be reviewed by the Ombudsman, who may direct us to release it.
