08/11/2002 
Mr Detlef Breuer commenting on Pig Management Decree – earliest time of coming into force: mid-2003
(ISN) – On November 9, 2001, the EU commission passed an amendment of the attachment to the 1991 Council Directive laying down the minimum standards for the protection of pigs (91/630). Several innovations concerning pig management resulted from the resolution which must be made national law until January 1, 2003 for new- and rebuilding and until January 1, 2013 for existing firms.
Last week, the German Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection announced that the conditions for the keeping of pigs would now be improved (the ISN reported about it). It becomes apparent that the EU deadline for making the directive to be national law (January 1, 2003) will not be kept. However, Germany does not stand alone in this matter; other EU member countries are also trying this hurdle.
An experts’ draft, to be taken as a basis for discussions with various associations and the ministries of the individual German federal Lands, is anticipated to be presented by November or December 2002. At present, this draft is being worked on by the relevant experts. But the version to be published and the time of publication will directly depend on the opinion of the decision-makers at the Ministry of Consumer Protection.
It is planned that the draft – when the associations and the ministries of the Lands will have agreed on it - shall be presented to the Bundesrat in spring of 2003. However, no definite date for that has yet been announced. After agreement by the Bundesrat, there will be a three-months’ period during which all other EU member countries may give their views of the German decree. It’s thereafter only that the decree may be promulgated officially. That means: the earliest possible time of the coming into force will be by mid-2003. A decisive factor for it will be how far the new decree will orientate to the latest scientific knowledge and to practical experience. Should the draft be exaggerated in any ideological way, there will be serious resistance to it among the associations and even some of the Lands under a social democratic government. And this is also known at the Ministry of Consumer Protection.
The experts’ discussions about the criteria of the draft stopped for a while during the first six months of 2002. It must be noted in retrospect that not having sacrificed the discussions to the parliamentary election campaign was certainly of help to the matter.
Last week, the German Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection announced that the conditions for the keeping of pigs would now be improved (the ISN reported about it). It becomes apparent that the EU deadline for making the directive to be national law (January 1, 2003) will not be kept. However, Germany does not stand alone in this matter; other EU member countries are also trying this hurdle.
An experts’ draft, to be taken as a basis for discussions with various associations and the ministries of the individual German federal Lands, is anticipated to be presented by November or December 2002. At present, this draft is being worked on by the relevant experts. But the version to be published and the time of publication will directly depend on the opinion of the decision-makers at the Ministry of Consumer Protection.
It is planned that the draft – when the associations and the ministries of the Lands will have agreed on it - shall be presented to the Bundesrat in spring of 2003. However, no definite date for that has yet been announced. After agreement by the Bundesrat, there will be a three-months’ period during which all other EU member countries may give their views of the German decree. It’s thereafter only that the decree may be promulgated officially. That means: the earliest possible time of the coming into force will be by mid-2003. A decisive factor for it will be how far the new decree will orientate to the latest scientific knowledge and to practical experience. Should the draft be exaggerated in any ideological way, there will be serious resistance to it among the associations and even some of the Lands under a social democratic government. And this is also known at the Ministry of Consumer Protection.
The experts’ discussions about the criteria of the draft stopped for a while during the first six months of 2002. It must be noted in retrospect that not having sacrificed the discussions to the parliamentary election campaign was certainly of help to the matter.
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