11 November 2021: Declaration under the Agriculture Act 2020: exceptional market conditions in the pigmeat sector
Updated 7 February 2022
Applies to England
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Presented to Parliament pursuant to section 20 of the Agriculture Act 2020
I consider that there are exceptional market conditions which justify the making of a declaration under section 20 of the Agriculture Act 2020, these being the serious threat of a severe market disturbance in the market for pigmeat which is likely to have a significant adverse effect on producers in England in terms of the prices achievable for pigmeat.
The grounds for considering that there is a serious threat of a severe disturbance in the market for pigmeat are evidenced by a large backlog of pigs on farms due to reduced processing capacity. This has been a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, interruption of CO2 supplies and a temporary shortage of labour, specifically skilled butchers.
The loss of the Chinese market to several processing plants as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic accounts for a large proportion of the pigs currently held back on farms. Pig prices have fallen and without intervention could rapidly fall very significantly further. I consider that the threat of this disturbance, which I do not consider in this instance is related to any structural issues in the domestic pig producer sector requiring a market correction, justifies making the powers referred to in section 21 of the Agriculture Act 2020 available for use. The grounds for considering this are that the scale and rapidity of the expected drop in prices is likely to lead to significant adverse effects for pig producers. The powers under section 21 will be available for use for three months from the date of this declaration, unless this declaration is revoked sooner.
Minister Victoria Prentis
(on behalf of Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, George Eustice)