Harmonization of welfare standards for the protection of pigs with the EU-rules: the case of Croatia

Three quarters of Croatian pigs are produced in small production units (1-5 sows) and on family farms with mixed farming activities. Only few farms have specialized production units with up-to-date technologies and comply with EU standards. The future competitiveness of Croatian pig production is therefore questionable unless production systems are changing. Modernisation will most probably result in the expansion and intensification of larger farms and the termination of a great number of small farms. The aim of this study was to investigate how the welfare of pigs on Croatian farms would be affected by modernisation. Seventeen Croatian pig farmers were interviewed to describe the different pig production systems, while the welfare of pigs was assessed using resource-based and animal-based welfare indicators. Three production systems were distinguished: part-time family farms (PFF), full-time family farms (FFF) and farm enterprises (FE). Resources-based welfare indicators were investigated in 17 pens located on seven PFF, 25 pens distributed across six FFF and seven pens were visited at two FE. Animal-based welfare indicators were assessed on 21 pigs at PFF, 90 pigs at FFF and 18 pigs at FE. The study demonstrated that different production systems have different welfare problems. Based on resource-based indicators pig welfare was better ensured on FE, but based on animal-based indicators there was no clear difference in welfare between the three production systems. Based on these findings is it unlikely that the modernisation of current production systems in Croatia will significantly improve pig welfare. From a welfare point of view, neither the enlargement nor the termination of pig farms can be supported. However, the number of farms involved in this study was too small to allow for generalisation. The case-study does, however, point at the importance of further studies into the specific welfare problems of each of the production-systems and their different solutions. These studies should be of larger scale in order to get a representative picture of pig welfare in Croatia, and its assurance within the process of modernisation

One of the basic goals of the Croatian agricultural policy is to enable consumers the access to the adequate and stable food offer that complies with their requirements, especially regarding food safety. Croatian National Food Safety Strategy, based on ne

One of the basic goals of the Croatian agricultural policy is to enable consumers the access to the adequate and stable food offer that complies with their requirements, especially regarding food safety. Croatian National Food Safety Strategy, based on new EU food safety approach, is currently in the phase of discussing drafted material. Official food safety framework is being redesigned in the aim to improve effectiveness by introducing the process of risk analyses.Coordination and cooperation between the competent authorities involved in food safety issue is becoming more intensive due to the start of negotiation process with EU. Personnel and institutions involved in food safety control are, through pre-accession programs, increasing their knowledge and abilities. Such harmonization of approaches and standards within all the EU member countries is required in order to guarantee same protection to all consumers. The paper discusses challenges and opportunities that Croatia is facing during the EU pre-accession period.

Uvođenje novog pristupa sigurnosti hrane u zemlje pristupnice EU-a - izazovi i mogućnosti za Hrvatsku (Establishing new food safety approach in EU accessing countries - Croatian challenges and opportunities)

Jedan je od glavnih ciljeva hrvatske poljoprivredne politike potrošačima omogućiti pristup odgovarajućoj i ispravnoj hrani koja je u skladu s propisima, naročito onima koji se tiču sigurnosti hrane. Hrvatska nacionalna strategija za sigurnost hrane na temelju novog pristupa sigurnosti hrane EU-a trenutačno je u fazi pripreme. Službeni okvir sigurnosti hrane upravo se reorganizira u cilju poboljšanja učinkovitosti uvođenjem procesa analize rizika.Koordinacija i suradnja između tijela nadležnih za pitanja sigurnosti hrane sve je intenzivnija zbog početka pregovora s EU-om. Osoblje i ustanove uključeni u nadzor sigurnosti hrane kroz pretpristupne programe jačaju svoja znanja i sposobnosti. Takvo usklađivanje pristupa i standarda između zemalja članica traži se kao jamstvo zaštite potrošača. Isti dokument razmatra izazove i mogućnosti s kojima se Hrvatska suočava tijekom pretpristupnog razdoblja

Treatment of Correlation Effects in Electron Momentum Density: Density Fuctional Theory and Beyond

Recent high resolution Compton scattering experiments clearly reveal that there are fundamental limitations to the conventional local density approximation (LDA) based description of the ground state electron momentum density (EMD) in solids. In order to go beyond the framework of the density functional theory (DFT), we consider for the correlated system a BCS-like approach in which we start with a singlet pair wavefunction or a 'geminal' from which the many body wavefunction is then constructed by taking an antisymmetrized geminal product (AGP). A relatively simple practical implementation of the AGP method is developed where the one-particle orbitals are approximated by the Kohn-Sham solutions used in standard band computations, and the orbital-dependent BCS energy scale $\Delta_i$ is determined through a readily computed exchange-type integral. The methodology is illustrated by considering EMD and Compton profiles in Li, Be and Al. It is found that in Li the present scheme predicts a substantial renormalization of the LDA result for the EMD; in Be, the computed correlation effect is anisotropic, while in Al, the deviations from the LDA are relatively small. These theoretical predictions are in qualitative accord with the corresponding experimental observations on Li, Be and Al, and indicate the potential of the AGP method for describing correlation effects on the EMD in wide classes of materials.Comment: 4 figures, accepted for publication in J. Phys. Chem. Solid