Pig Code of Practice - Progress Updates

June 2026

The pig Code Committee (CC) held its first in-person meeting in October 2025. Since then, the CC has made consistent progress as members become increasingly familiar with the NFACC Code process and with one another. After initially opting to meet only as a collective, smaller Subject Matter Expert (SME) groups have since been formed. These groups allow members with specific expertise to thoroughly review distinct Code topics and share prospective updates during collective CC meetings, where all proposed edits are discussed as a full group.

To date, most SMEs have focused on Code content tied to updates from the Scientific Committee (SC), which continues to review and present current findings on the Priority Welfare Issues (PWIs) agreed upon in 2025. Other SMEs are focused on chapter-specific content, such as Transportation. SME Leads are also assuming more direct administrative oversight of their respective groups—setting meeting times, assembling prep materials, and capturing edits for presentation to the CC.

To accommodate a more accelerated pace:

• The number of active SMEs has multiplied, with groups meeting more often.
• The CC has increased the frequency of its online meetings.
• Collective CC meetings have become lengthier, moving from two hours to three.
• Discussions across both CC and SME meetings have become notably more active and fast-paced.
• Committee meetings of one type or another are now occurring weekly, on average.

As committee members increasingly recognize and draw upon the diverse expertise within the group, the review effort continues to gain efficiency. All meetings remain collegial, educational, and highly collaborative.

Operating in parallel to the CC, the Scientific Committee has maintained a rapid pace of researching and presenting summary updates on the PWIs. These topic reviews were mutually intended to benefit the CC throughout the update process. During each update, the SC Chair provides presentations to the full CC. These updates will ultimately be compiled into a single report, peer-reviewed, and published on the NFACC website prior to the Public Comment Period (PCP). This process maximizes efficiency, ensuring the collective committee can review science-based information in a timely manner.

Over the summer, alongside planned monthly CC meetings, all SME groups will maintain a regular schedule. The full CC will next meet for an extended, two-day virtual session in early October. The committee expects to maintain this steady pace until the 60-day Public Comment Period begins in early 2027.

February 2026

The full pig Code Committee (CC) is meeting monthly to work through assigned sections of the Code. To facilitate the large, virtual group meetings, CC members are asked to submit proposed changes and comments regarding the assigned chapter sections on a shared document prior to the meeting so each member can consider all proposed comments and changes beforehand. All comments and proposed changes are discussed collectively at the group meetings. The CC has implemented a green, yellow, red approach to decision making so each CC member can signal their level of comfort with a proposed change being discussed.

The Scientific Committee (SC) is finalizing the enrichment priority welfare issue chapter, which will be available to the CC by the end of January. The SC will be focusing on the housing chapter next. A full list of the Priority Welfare Issues that will make up the SC’s report is available here.

A small group of subject matter experts is looking at the Transport chapter of the pig Code and will bring their proposed revisions to the CC to review in March at our next in-person meeting.

December 2025

The first in-person meeting of the Pig Code update was held in Ottawa in late October. All members of both the Code Committee (CC) and Scientific Committee (SC) were in attendance. Over the course of two days, participants reviewed key tenets of the NFACC Code process, discussed the results of the Top-of-Mind survey, and were provided with a brief overview of the pig industry in Canada. CC members also discussed plans for how the update would unfold.

The focus of the meeting revolved around the Code’s “Priority Welfare Issues” (PWI’s). PWI’s refer to 4-6 welfare-related topics that the members of both committees agree (i) are important for pigs and that (ii) would be of benefit to the CC were the SC to prepare and submit an up-to-date summary report reflecting commensurate scientific literature within one year. After a wide-ranging discussion five PWI topics were agreed upon. Subsequent to final wording refinements the PWI topics will be available here. The SC will embark on a one year-long research review before submitting a final summary report to the CC next fall. The CC will also receive interim progress updates during in-person meetings throughout the forthcoming year.   

Following the October session, all members of the CC attended their first online meeting together in mid-November. During this meeting, members of the CC collectively began to review and discuss existing Code content. Online meetings of the entire CC will continue monthly. In-person meetings will continue quarterly.

September 2025

Online orientation sessions were attended by all Scientific Committee (SC) and Code Committee (CC) members. The orientation sessions provided an overview of the following:

• NFACC Code Development Process
• Administrative activities and requirements
• Anticipated timelines for the project.

The first in-person meeting will be held in October with both the SC and CC in attendance. Preliminary work to identify priority welfare issues (PWIs) has begun. PWIs are selected because they are important for the welfare of pigs and will particularly benefit from a review of available scientific literature. Note: welfare issues that are not selected as PWIs may still be very important issues that the CC can discuss and incorporate into the updated Code of Practice.

The PWI list is the basis for the peer-reviewed Scientific Committee report. Click here for the 2012 Scientific Committee Report.

June 2025

The official announcement for the pig Code’s update was released on May 15, 2025, along with a top-of-mind survey. Both the Code Committee and the Scientific Committee are in place; members can be found here. 

An important preliminary step in this process is to invite the industry, general public, and all other interested individuals to submit their top-of-mind thoughts on the welfare of pigs. The top-of-mind survey was open from May 15^th to June 4^th. This input will help to inform the Code update.

Work is underway to schedule virtual orientation meetings for all committee members. It is anticipated that the first in-person meeting for this Code update will be in early fall.  

February 2025

An update to the 2014 Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pigs will be initiated soon. Watch for the official announcement and the Top-of-Mind survey.