The white pork sector has experienced the arrival of the mandatory installation of video surveillance cameras in slaughterhouses without any problems, since “we were 4 years ahead of this new law and a good part of companies in the sector had already carried out their voluntary installation long before we began to talk about a standard that regulated this issue.”
This has been highlighted by the director of the Interprofessional of the White Coated Pigs (INTERPORC), Alberto Herranz, on the occasion of the recent entry into force of Royal Decree 695/2022, of August 23, which establishes measures for the control of animal welfare in slaughterhouses through the installation of video surveillance systems, at the end of last August.
Herranz recalls that in 2019 INTERPORC launched the voluntary seal ‘Certified Welfare Commitment’ (today B+), “an initiative that placed Spain at the global forefront in animal welfare and that included in its technical regulations the obligation to install video surveillance cameras.”
To obtain this certification, the INTERPORC Animal Welfare Spain (IAWS) Technical Regulation, accredited by ENAC, requires having a continuous image recording system installed in the areas where live animals are found (unloading area, stables, pre-stunning, etc.), in order to monitor aspects related to animal welfare and guarantee the existence of good practices.
Requirements, Herranz pointed out, that are included in practically the same way in the law that came into force a few weeks ago, hence, “when this matter was finally legislated, from the interprofessional we welcomed it.”
More than 60% of pork production is certified, which allows the availability of certified products in numerous and important distribution chains, both national (Hipercor, Aldi, Alcampo, Ahorramas, Carrefour, etc.) and international (Morrisons, Tesco, Soriana ).
Furthermore, added the director of INTERPORC, “it has made it possible to bring to the fore a consumer demand to which the sector had already responded by demonstrating its commitment to animal welfare.”
