Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessments her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Fair Dealing Obligations (Pig) Regulations 2025 in preventing abuse by processors.

The Fair Dealing Obligations (Pigs) Regulations (FDOP) are the result of extensive consultation with farmers, producer groups and the wider industry. They have applied to any new contracts since August 2025 and will come into force fully (for all contracts) from August 2026.

FDOP includes a statutory requirement for post-implementation review, which will be carried out at the appropriate time, to assess the effectiveness and adequacy of the regulations. In the interim, the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator (ASCA) continues to engage with the pig sector and wider industry stakeholders to support implementation and monitor how the regulations are operating in practice.