Regulation and Assurance
The Red Tractor Pork Assurance Mark is an integrated scheme for English pig meat production covering the following elements of th epig meat supply chain all of which must comply with strict operating standards:
- Feed
- Farm
- Livestock haulage
- Abattoir
- Processing
All pork, bacon and ham that carries the Red Tractor Pork brand comes from farmers and processors committed to high standards of animal welfare, quality control and traceability.
Every link in the supply chain is subject to regular independent auditing operating to recognised international standards (EN45011) to ensure they conform.
New assurance standards Updates
Manipulable materials
Red Tractor Assurance Scheme standards for manipulable material for pigs have been changed and will come in on 1 April 2010. BPEX has produced a short introductory guide to help ensure that you comply with the new standards. The guide will help assess some of the options depending on the system you have. More information and advice on enrichment toys and manipulable materials will be available from May 2010 and at the British Pig and Poultry Fair.
The revised standards – Red Tractor Farm Assurance, Section AH.1.1 – include the following:
- Chains alone are not acceptable
- Tyres are not acceptable as some may contain wire which could hurt the pigs
- Objects must be shown to be of interest to the pigs – i.e. not fouled
- Objects must be within the pigs’ reach
Download the environmental enrichment for pigs guidance
