On September 14, the Minister of Agriculture, Julien Denormandie, signed the recognition order of the Association of Producer Organizations (AOP) "Porc Grand Ouest" during his inaugural visit to the SPACE conference. This is the first of its kind in the French pork industry.

The AOP is comprised of the following organizations: Agrial, Eureden, Elpor, Evel Up, GRPPO, Porcinéo, Porélia, Sypro Porcs, Porvéo and Porc Armor Evolution.

Denormandie was accompanied by Jean-Luc Cherau, president of the AOP along with the heads of the various groups.

The purpose of the AOP is to strengthen the market power of farmers who are members of producer organizations.

The Official Commission for the Control and Eradication of African Swine Fever Outbreaks reported that the country has the necessary technology to carry out molecular biology diagnostics, which allows for the detection of the ASF virus and the delivery of test results to pig farmers in less than 24 hours.

The studies are carried out through the Central Veterinary Laboratory (LAVECEN).

The director of LAVECEN, Griselda Lopez, said that this laboratory has the necessary reagents and supplies to perform all the tests required by pig farmers throughout the country, so that the country no longer needs to send samples abroad, reducing the time in the delivery of test results.

Regulation (EU) 2019/6 on veterinary medicines is set to enter into force in January 2022. This regulation, with regard to the prudent use of antimicrobials, sets out the main criteria for deciding which antibiotics are to be placed on a list of antibiotics reserved for human use only and thus banned from use in veterinary medicine.

An objection to the act's criteria was made by European Parliament's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) stating that highest-priority critically important antimicrobials should be reserved for human use only.

In a majority vote, the European Parliament dismissed the motion that called for tighter restrictions on antibiotics for use in animals, thus voting to ensure that veterinarians retain access to specific life-saving treatments for both farm and companion animals by acknowledging the suitability of the criteria laid out in the act, as advised by the European Medicines Agency, and supported by EU Member States.