IMPORTATION OF PIGS

Taranaki Daily News, 15 September 1927, Page 9

IMPORTATION OF PIGS

-THE BAN PARTIALLY LIFTED. ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE MINISTER (By Wire—Special Reporter.) Wellington, Last Night. Pig breeders in Ne Zealand have for some time past been faced with considerable difficulty’ in obtaining new’ blood for their herds, owing to importations from their usual sources of supply having had to be prohibited because of the existence of certain diseases in countries from which stud pigs were usually introduced when a charge of blood was deemed advisable. * In view of this and of the growing importance of the export trade in pig products from the Dominion, the Hon. G. J. Hawken, Minister of Agriculture, has given careful consideration to the needs of the breeders and as a result lias decided to allow, during the next few months, the importation of pigs from Canada, subject to tlie following conditions: — (1) The written consent of the Minister of Agriculture must be obtained before each shipment is made. Applications for such consent must give full particulars of the nigs proposed to lr imported, of probable date of shipment ami of the owners’ name and the locality of the farm which they are to be obtained in order that full inquiry may be made before consent is given. (2) If a permit is granted it will l-e subject to the shipper in Canada giving a statutory declaration that the animals have been in Canada from birth, that they have been fre fro all contagious disease for six months, and that they have not been in direct or indirect contact with any infected live stock for six months. They must also be accompanied by a certificate from a qualified veterinarian in a form to be prescribed and, on arrival in New Zealand, will be held at one of the island quarantine stat'ons of the Department of Agriculture for forty days. An Order-in-Council giving effect to this decision will be Gazetted shortly, and ihe .Minister trusts that great benefit to the industry will result from this opportunity for breeders to obtain a complete change of blood for their herds.