According to the AHDB Pig Market Weekly for 12 December, the new rule dictates that meat from a particular country needs to be labelled with the name of the country in which the animal was reared and then slaughtered.

With regards to rearing, the name of a single country can only be used if the animal has spent majority of its life there. This is again defined differently depending on the age and weight of the animal.

If this is not so, the meat will be labelled as "Reared in several Member States", "Reared in several non-EU countries" or "Reared in: list of Member States (or third countries)".

The new rules will apply to all unprocessed meat products save for minced meat, where there will be the option to use "Reared in the EU" or "Slaughtered in the EU" (or equivalents for non-EU countries).

Once the European Commission formally approves the rules, they will be published in the Official Journal of the EU and will come into force with effect from 1 April 2015.

Meanwhile, according to the latest figures from Agrosoft, minimal change has been seen in the overall performance of the breeding herd in Great Britain.

The figures from September 2012 to September 2013 reveal that the average number of pigs reared per sow was almost unchanged compared to the same period a year ago.

However, there has been some improvement in the performance of the best producers. Recently, there has also been an improvement in feeding herd performance.