U.K. Says More EU Pork Farms Phasing Out Stalls by January 2013

U.K. pig farmers will be in a better position to compete with other European Union producers next year as more countries move toward phasing out sow stalls, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said.

Individual sow stalls will be outlawed in the EU starting Jan. 1, and 18 of the 27 member countries will likely be fully compliant with the ban by the deadline, Defra said today in a statement on its website, citing the European Commission. Sow stalls have been illegal in the U.K. since 1999. In addition, Austria, Finland, Greece, Poland and Slovenia are expected to be more than 90 percent compliant with the law, Defra said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Whitney McFerron in London at wmcferron1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net