Pig welfare and quality assurance

The Australian Pork Industry Quality program (APIQ) is the pork industry’s on-farm quality assurance program and covers product integrity, i.e. food safety, biosecurity and animal welfare.

Incorporating animal welfare as part of quality assurance procedures ensures that maintaining animal welfare standards becomes a part of day to day on-farm management. The Model Code of Practice forms the basis for APIQ’s animal welfare component, so it covers:

Planning and contingency arrangements concerning feed and water delivery and equipment and facility failure and maintenance is in place to minimise risks to pigs.
Appropriate facilities protect pigs against weather extremes and injury
Sufficient nutritious and palatable food and fresh water for pigs to maintain a healthy body condition.
Staff competency and training is maintained to ensure good stockmanship and care for sick and injured pigs.
Animal health and husbandry measures and practices are in place and are designed to optimise the health and welfare of the herd and minimise risk to pigs.
On farm euthanasia for the prompt and humane destruction of sick and injured pigs

If producers don’t comply with the Code guidelines, they are required to develop a timetable to address the issue.

As APIQ requires producers to undergo annual independent audits, APIQ enables producers to demonstrate that they are producing pigs in accordance with the industry’s best practice. Around 87% of the national herd is currently APIQ accredited.

For more information about the APIQ program, click here.