{"id":12697,"date":"2026-05-07T05:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T17:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/?p=12697"},"modified":"2026-05-06T16:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T04:32:09","slug":"pork-farmers-back-green-push-for-fairer-import-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/?p=12697","title":{"rendered":"Pork Farmers Back Green Push for Fairer Import Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Colin Ambler\/cvnznews.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new poll shows overwhelming farmer support for requiring imported pork and other animal products to meet New Zealand\u2019s welfare standards. Animal welfare groups say the findings confirm what they\u2019ve warned for years \u2014 that imported low\u2011welfare pork is undermining both Kiwi farmers and Kiwi values.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A new Curia poll has found 79% of New Zealand farmers support requiring imported animal products to meet the same welfare standards local producers must follow \u2014 a result the Green Party says strengthens the case for its proposed \u201cclosing the welfare gap\u201d legislation. Only 10% of farmers disagreed with the idea, according to the poll released by Animal Policy International. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Green MP Steve Abel, who is sponsoring the Member\u2019s Bill, says the findings show farmers want fairness, not protectionism.
\u201cIt\u2019s unjust and unfair that a higher\u2011welfare pork product has to compete on supermarket shelves with a lower\u2011welfare imported product,\u201d Abel said. \u201cMy Bill closes the welfare gap on imported animal products, making life better for animals and fairer for farmers.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Animal welfare organisations have been warning for years that New Zealand\u2019s import rules allow practices banned here \u2014 including sow stalls and long\u2011duration farrowing crates \u2014 to enter the country through imported pork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Better conditions for pig animals wanted<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The SPCA, which supported a major petition calling for an end to \u201ccruel imports,\u201d says the public is largely unaware that imported pork often comes from systems illegal in New Zealand.
\u201cNew Zealanders care deeply about animal welfare, yet we continue to import products that are the result of cruelty that would be illegal here at home,\u201d said SPCA Chief Scientific Officer Dr Arnja Dale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAFE has also consistently backed aligning import standards with domestic law, speaking alongside SPCA, Animal Policy International, and farmers at the 2025 petition handover. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pork industry has long argued that New Zealand farmers are being undercut by cheaper, lower\u2011welfare imports.
Industry group NZPork has warned producers are \u201cstruggling against a flood of lower\u2011welfare imports,\u201d with more than 63% of pork consumed in New Zealand now imported \u2014 much of it from countries still using sow stalls and extended farrowing crate confinement. RNZ<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waikato farmer Walt Cavendish, who is transitioning to free\u2011range pork, says the current system is indefensible.
\u201cFor these family farming families, they\u2019re trying to compete with product that would not be allowed to be farmed here,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Green Party is leading the legislative push, support is emerging across the political spectrum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a 2025 petition event, Labour MP Rachel Boyack said it was \u201cunjust\u201d that imports can come from systems banned in New Zealand and signalled Labour\u2019s openness to reform. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

National MP Grant McCallum also appeared at the event, signalling cross\u2011party interest in the issue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abel says he will continue seeking support from MPs across Parliament to bring the Bill before the House. With farmers, welfare groups, and parts of the pork industry aligned, the political pressure to close the welfare gap is now stronger than ever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Colin Ambler\/cvnznews.com A new poll shows overwhelming farmer support for requiring imported pork and other animal products to meet New Zealand\u2019s welfare standards. Animal welfare groups say the findings confirm what they\u2019ve warned for years \u2014 that imported low\u2011welfare pork is undermining both Kiwi farmers and Kiwi values. A new Curia poll has found<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12699,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[41],"tags":[1105,1041,113,1104],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":{"0":"post-12697","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-animal-welfare","9":"tag-green-party","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-pork-industry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Green-Pork.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12697"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12700,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12697\/revisions\/12700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12697"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=12697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}