GFA Welcomes New Game Rearing Code
22 July 2010
The Game Farmers’ Association (GFA) has warmly welcomed a new Code of Practice for the Welfare of Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes, laid before Parliament today by the Government.
“The new code contains everything necessary to ensure good bird welfare whilst remaining practical for all those who rear gamebirds in England,” said Jonathan Crow, the GFA Chairman.
“We congratulate the new Government on getting this right and will continue to urge Ministers in Scotland and Wales to adopt uniform approaches for their own countries.”
The new code will now lie before Parliament for 40 days, after which it will come onto the Statute Book and then apply throughout England. Issued under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, it defines what provisions are necessary for gamebird welfare. Anyone not following the code from next year will be at risk of prosecution, a heavy fine, imprisonment and a ban on keeping animals.
The new code replaces the unworkable text that Labour tried to drive through just before the general election and which would have caused chaos for the game industry and game shooting. The GFA, as lead organisation representing UK game rearing, coordinated a vigorous campaign to have that code withdrawn and replaced.“Within a few short weeks our industry has gone from looking into the abyss to having an excellent code that helps to guarantee the future of game rearing,” said Jonathan Crow. “It is a massive relief and a credit to those fellow organisations who helped to secure the changes.”ENDS
NOTES FOR EDITORS:The new code can be downloaded from Defra’s website via the ‘latest news’ area on the animal welfare index page at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/farmanimal/welfare/index.htm.
The principle changes from Labour’s unworkable draft are:
- Removal of the prohibition on mixing laying birds ‘for the duration of the breeding season.’
- Reducing the inspection regime for birds kept outside the breeding and rearing period from ‘at least twice a day’ to a more practical ‘at least once a day’. (Inspection during the breeding and rearing season must still be ‘at least twice a day’).
- Allowing the use of enriched laying units without specifying actual sizes, providing that any such units meet all the birds’ welfare needs.
- Clarifying that release pen siting should aim to minimise losses to predators and on roads, rather than eliminate them, which is of course impossible.
More detail on the disastrous impacts that Labour’s wording could have had on game rearing in the UK remains available on the Game Farmers’ Association website in the GFA’s analysis ‘Costing the Code’ at: http://www.gfa.org.uk/gfa-news/12/
Gamebird rearing codes for Wales and Scotland are currently in preparation following a period of public consultation. The draft codes for the two nations follow closely the text now agreed for England. Final decisions in Cardiff and Edinburgh are expected later this year.
Date Added: July 22nd 2010