Document type written response from Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty
Author: Ms Anne Stambach-Terrenoir (La France Insoumise - Nouvelle Union Populaire écologique et sociale, Haute-Garonne)
Question: Mrs. Anne Stambach-Terrenoir draws the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty's attention to the issue of the castration of piglets in France. Indeed, although the castration of piglets without anaesthesia is forbidden since January 1, 2022, surgical castration under anesthesia and analgesia continues to be permitted. Unfortunately, the procedures currently available in France cannot control all of the pain suffered by piglets. To be fully effective, anaesthesia calls for a delay to be observed before castration that does not conform to farm processing schedules. It also requires a veterinary monitoring to ensure that the procedure is carried out correctly. In 2020, nearly 9 million pigs were still being subjected to painful surgical castration in France, despite the fact that under 3% of carcasses give off the unpleasant odour known as "boar taint" that can be produced when the meat is cooked and is the reason given to justify castration. However, alternative solutions are both available and well-documented: the rearing of whole (uncastrated) male pigs, coupled with the identificaiton of tainted carcasses at the abattoir, or the use of immunocastration which inhibits production of the hormone that causes "boar taint". The latest scientific Opinion of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on the welfare of farmed pigs, published in anticipation of the revision of the European legislation on animal welfare that is expected in the second half of 2023, indicates that the rearing of whole pigs and immunocastration are preferable to surgical castration in animal welfare terms. Some French groups have also shifted towards the development of whole-male farming. She would like to know the Ministry's plans to promote alternatives to the castration of pigs and to ask whether it intends to end this practice in accordance with the wishes of a growing number of farmers and consumers.
Answer: The improvement of animal welfare in livestock production is a government priority. The Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty made the commitment in 2020 to end the castration of piglets without anaesthesia by the end of 2021. An initial decree was then signed in February 2020 to prohibit live castration from January 1, 2022 and to regulate the carrying out of castration by requiring a piglet's pain to be managed. Since January 1, 2022, the live castration of piglets has been prohibited. Farmers and their employees can, under certain conditions, continue to castrate piglets under 7 days old using pain management methods. Three alternatives are possible: the production of whole male pigs, vaccination against boar taint (or immunocastration) and castration accompanied by pain management, as specified in a technical instruction from the DGAL. In order to provide technical support to farmers and veterinarians, the French Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty has posted online via the Ifip website (Institut du Porc, https://www.ifip.asso.fr/fr/centre-de-ressources-castraanimal welfare): - local anesthesia and analgesia protocols in the form of information sheets, produced in consultation with scientists and professional representatives and agreed by all stakeholders; - articles detailing the studies that have provided the evidence base for the creation of the protocols; - a distance learning module; - and the legal regulatory texts. Research on this practice and the experience of it in Spain have underlined the fact that, currently, the market cannot absorb 100% of whole male pig meat. This is because the organoleptic and technological characteristics of this meat are such that a sufficiently high quality of meat processing in all preparations cannot be guaranteed, and some carcasses (an estimated 3 to 5%) develop a characteristic sexual odour when cooked, making them unfit for human consumption. As a result, the salted meat and sausage industry demands castrated pig carcasses from farmers. In Spain, around 80% of males are whole, and the country considers that the market has reached saturation point for whole male pork. Immunocastration or immunovaccination is authorized in France: the veterinary drug IMPROVAC© has a marketing authorization (MA) issued under a centralized European procedure. This method has the advantage of avoiding pain and the wound associated with castration, and allows faster growth and improved feeding efficiency. However, it also has its limitations: the reduction in risk of sexual odors when the meat is cooked is not as great (0.9% vs 0.3%) there is a risk of self-injection by the operator (safety syringe for the operator), difficulties may arise in administering the injections in some circumstances (large groups of animals, free-range farming), and there is a non-negligible risk that consumers and producers will find the product uother small companion animalsceptable. Much work is still ongoing, particularly on improvements related to the implementation of the system for free-range livestock and treatment of tainted carcasses, both to reduce the occurrence of odours (the effects of diet, breed, weight/age, bedding, etc.) and to improve their detection, and on the societal acceptability of immunocastration and the use of tainted carcasses. In light of the revision of the legislation on animal protection, France is lobbying at European level for a ban on the castration of piglets without anaesthesia.
