Danish pig production has its own quality programme consisting of two parts: The DANISH Product Standard and the DANISH Transport Standard. More than 95 per cent of the total pig production is covered by this programme that is supervised by a third party.

The quality programme for Danish pig production is called DANISH. The quality programme consists of two parts:

The DANISH Product Standard which guarantees and documents that Danish pig populations live up to the Danish legislation and the Danish industry requirements with particular focus on good animal welfare, a high food safety and a clear trackability in all Danish pig populations.
For the UK market, there are extra requirements to the producers and there is a UK standard for these.
More than 95 per cent of the total Danish pig production is covered by this programme that is supervised by a third party.

The purpose of the DANISH Transport Standard is to avoid exotic diseases in Denmark, such as e.g. swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease.

With the DANISH programme, the Danish pig producers can give an account of all steps in the production and document that they fulfil the targets and requirements of the quality scheme. This provides safety for consumers and customers worldwide.
Visits are paid to conventional pig populations every third year whereas pig populations that produce pigs for the UK market get an inspection visit each year.

At the inspection visit, approved inspectors check more than 150 different control points concerning animal welfare, food safety and trackability. If a producer has serious breaches, he can be expelled from the programme and will then no longer be able to supply pigs for slaughter to the export slaughter-houses or export live pigs to for example Germany.

Relevant publications:

Read more about: The DANISH Product Standard
Read more about: The DANISH Transport Standard