National Pig Association THE VOICE OF THE UK PIG INDUSTRY NPA is active on members' behalf in Brussels & Whitehall, and with processors, supermarkets & caterers - fighting for the growth and pros-perity of the UK pig industry.

Processors would be tearing up contracts next month, he warned, because the major retailers were walking away from British production standards.

In response, David Reid said his buyers would be unhappy if contracts were at risk and National Pig Association should work with them to prevent this happening.

Stewart Houston said that after a period of relative stability the financial pressure being brought to bear by major retailers was having a major impact on processors – “and this in an under-supplied market“.

The root cause, he said, was the war between supermarkets focused on price and volume, often at prices below cost of production.

He told the Tesco chairman that supermarkets were walking away from British standards and planned to replace British pork with imports which would be illegal to produce here.

Also at the NFU conference, Stewart Houston had a brief private meeting with Environment Agency chairman Sir John Harman at which he voiced concern about the agency’s inflexibility in defining an IPPC “installation“.

Source: the National Pig Association - 1st March 2006