Animal Welfare (Regulations for Management of Pigs) Amendment Bill
This bill changes the rules for how pigs are kept on New Zealand farms. It gives pig farmers until 2035 — ten more years — to stop using farrowing crates (small enclosures where mother pigs give birth and nurse piglets) and mating stalls for long periods. At the same time, it sets stricter limits straight away on how long pigs can be kept in these confined spaces, and requires farmers to give pigs more room and nesting materials. From 2035, even tighter rules will kick in.
What this affects
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The bill sets new rules on how much space and what conditions pigs must be kept in on farms.
a sow is not confined in a farrowing crate for more than 3 days before farrowing
pigs are not confined in stalls unless… the pigs are released from the stalls as soon as practicable after mating or after a period of no more than 3 hours (whichever is earlier)
increase the minimum space requirement by 13.3% via an increase in the k value from 0.03 to 0.034
The owner of, and every person in charge of, a pig confined in a farrowing system must keep records that document compliance
Progress through Parliament
Have your say
This bill is open for public submissions to the Primary Production Committee. Anyone can tell the committee what they think, and you don’t need to be an expert. Submissions close 22 October 2025.
Bill text sourced from legislation.govt.nz (Parliamentary Counsel Office). Arapono’s summary and breakdown are drafted with AI grounded in that official text and reviewed by an Arapono editor for accuracy and neutrality before publishing. Arapono is non-partisan and takes no position on this bill.