# Council Directive 2008/120/EC of 18 December 2008 laying down minimum standards for the protection of pigs (Codified version), Chapter I: GENERAL CONDITIONS

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

In addition to the relevant provisions of the Annex to Directive 98/58/EC, the following requirements apply:
1.. In the part of the building where pigs are kept continuous noise levels as loud as 85 dBA shall be avoided. Constant or sudden noise shall be avoided.
2.. Pigs must be kept in light with an intensity of at least 40 lux for a minimum period of eight hours per day.
3.. The accommodation for pigs must be constructed in such a way as to allow the animals to:
have access to a lying area physically and thermally comfortable as well as adequately drained and clean which allows all the animals to lie at the same time,
rest and get up normally,
see other pigs; however, in the week before the expected farrowing time and during farrowing, sows and gilts can be kept out of the sight of conspecifics.
4.. Notwithstanding Article 3(5), pigs must have permanent access to a sufficient quantity of material to enable proper investigation and manipulation activities, such as straw, hay, wood, sawdust, mushroom compost, peat or a mixture of such, which does not compromise the health of the animals.
5.. Floors must be smooth but not slippery so as to prevent injury to the pigs and so designed, constructed and maintained as not to cause injury or suffering to pigs. They must be suitable for the size and weight of the pigs and, if no litter is provided, form a rigid, even and stable surface.
6.. All pigs must be fed at least once a day. Where pigs are fed in groups and not ad libitum or by an automatic system feeding the animals individually, each pig must have access to the food at the same time as the others in the group.
7.. All pigs over two weeks of age must have permanent access to a sufficient quantity of fresh water.
8.. All procedures intended as an intervention carried out for other than therapeutic or diagnostic purposes or for the identification of the pigs in accordance with relevant legislation and resulting in damage to or the loss of a sensitive part of the body or the alteration of bone structure shall be prohibited with the following exceptions:
a uniform reduction of corner teeth of piglets by grinding or clipping not later than the seventh day of life of the piglets leaving an intact smooth surface; boars’ tusks may be reduced in length where necessary to prevent injuries to other animals or for safety reasons,
docking of a part of the tail,
castration of male pigs by other means than tearing of tissues,
nose-ringing only when the animals are kept in outdoor husbandry systems and in compliance with national legislation.
Neither tail-docking nor reduction of corner teeth must be carried out routinely but only where there is evidence that injuries to sows’ teats or to other pigs’ ears or tails have occurred. Before carrying out these procedures, other measures shall be taken to prevent tail-biting and other vices, taking into account environment and stocking densities. For this reason inadequate environmental conditions or management systems must be changed.
Any of the procedures described above shall only be carried out by a veterinarian or a person trained as provided in Article 6 and experienced in performing the applied techniques with appropriate means and under hygienic conditions. If castration or docking of tails is practised after the seventh day of life, it shall only be performed under anaesthetic and additional prolonged analgesia by a veterinarian.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudr/2008/120/annex/I/chapter/I (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-directive-2008-120/annex-I/chapter-I
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.