PIG INDUSTRY

Hokitika Guardian, 16 September 1927, Page 4

PIG INDUSTRY

... —4O" NEW BLOOD FROM CANADA. (WELLINGTON. Sept. 14. Pig breeders in New Zealand have for some time past boon 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 the countries Lorn which stud pigs were usually introduced i when a change of blood was doomed i advisable. In \lieu- of this and of the 1 growing importance of the export trade in pig products from the Dominion, tho Hon Mr Hawkcn, Minister for Agriculture, has given careful consideration to the needs of breeders and as a result has decided to allow during tho first few months the importation of pigs from Canada subject to the following conditions:First, the written consent of the Minister for Agriculture must be obtained before each shipment is made. Applications for such consent must give full particulars of the pigs proposed to he imported, of the probable daic of shipment, and of the owner’s names and locality of the. farm from which they are to be obtained in order that full enquiry may be made before consent is given. Second, if a permit is granted it will he subject to the shipper in Canada giving a statutory declaration that the animals have Ween in Canada from birth, that they ‘have been free from all contagious diseases 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 stations of the Department of Agriculture for 40 days. An Ordor-in-Council giving effect to this decision wall be gazetted shorthand the 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.