Pig Health Scheme

The pork sector council has acted on clear messages from levy payers to amplify our work on marketing, exports and reputation (including educating younger consumers). This will be underpinned by a foundation of aligned pre-farmgate work.

Prioritising this work, combined with a reduction in total income, means that some work must be reduced or stopped.

Work to improve animal health and welfare is important, not only for animals but for the profitability of the industry and to assure consumers of high welfare standards.

Vets and others carry out valuable work in this area, so AHDB was asked to review its existing work to avoid duplication. While much was retained following this review, the council directed AHDB to discontinue funding the Pig Health Scheme and Real Welfare programmes.

As a result, the final Pig Health Scheme assessments took place on Tuesday 13 December 2022.

Access to historical Pig Health Scheme reports ceased on 3 May 2023.

Read the Pork sector plan 2022–2027

How to use the reports

The Pig Health Scheme report can be used to:

Provide a baseline of the current health status of your herd
Benchmark against other members of the scheme using aggregated and anonymised data
Monitor the effects of management changes on the health of pigs, such as feed or a vaccination programme change
Inform decisions around disease control with your vet

Pig Health Scheme guide – healthy pigs for healthy profits

CCIR

Collection and Communication of Inspection Results (CCIR) is a statutory requirement and will continue. It is mainly used for food safety purposes but does also collect animal health data.

CCIR ante-mortem inspections are carried out by the abattoir’s Official Veterinarian (OV), and post-mortem inspections are carried out by specially trained Meat Hygiene Inspectors (MHIs). These data are gathered at several different points on the line, with each MHI assessing different parts of the carcase and offal.

Find out more about CCIR data and how to use it