Pig health and welfare: cross-jurisdictional insights on regulatory convergence and divergence in England, Northern Ireland and Ireland

This policy paper examines patterns of regulatory convergence and divergence in pig health and welfare across England, Northern Ireland and Ireland in the context of the evolving relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union following Brexit. Pig production is employed as a focused and timely case study due to its high level of cross-border integration, heightened exposure to animal health and welfare concerns, and the concentration of intersecting regulatory considerations spanning trade, environmental protection, technological innovation and agricultural policy. The aim of this paper is to generate cross-jurisdictional regulatory insights across both animal health and animal welfare domains, with a view to supporting the Co-Centre’s research agenda and informing its engagement with key stakeholders in government, civil society and industry. These insights are also intended to contribute to ongoing and anticipated debates in both domains, notably discussions concerning access to veterinary medicines, the regulation of gene editing, and the use of farrowing crates. These debates are unfolding at both local and cross-border levels, reflecting the interaction between domestic policy choices and wider governance considerations. In particular, they arise in the context of ongoing and prospective negotiations over a potential EU–UK sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement, as well as the development and implementation of animal welfare strategies and related legislative reform.<p></p>