Farmers’ group sues state over temporary pig-farm ban

Denmark’s agricultural interest group Landbrug & Fødevarer is taking the state to court over a temporary halt on establishing or expanding conventional pig production, DR reports. The group says the halt lacks the legal basis required for such a measure.

The halt was announced on 23 September and will remain in place until the government completes a planned four-party agreement on pig welfare rules. The government is working on the rules with, among others, agricultural and animal welfare organisations.

The Agency for Green Land Transition and Aquatic Environment issued the regulation and is the body being sued, according to Landbrug & Fødevarer. The group argues the government should have introduced the measure through legislation rather than a regulation that did not go before parliament.

Nature and animal welfare minister Christian Rabjerg Madsen said both his ministry and the Ministry of Justice had reviewed the legal basis and concluded that it was sufficient. He said he was not concerned by the lawsuit, adding that court challenges are an important part of democracy.

DR climate analyst Filip Knaack Kirkegaard said several legal experts have questioned whether livestock legislation allows the government to stop new or expanded conventional pig production. Among them are law professors Rasmus Grønved Nielsen and Peter Pagh, who believe the government has exceeded its authority.

Christian Fink Hansen, director of Landbrug & Fødevarer’s pig sector, said the group had to seek a court ruling because experts had questioned whether the measure had the necessary legal basis.