This paper focuses on assessment of pig housing in Europe. Factors that are becoming more important in the assessment of pig housing include: the care of animals and the environment, health, product safety and consumer acceptance. It is likely that documentation and certification will be required as part of a quality assurance program based on international standards. Critical control points (CCP, based on the Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Point concept) have already been defined for the food processing sector. In order to objectively assess pig housing based on scientific data, these CCP need to be defined. The ‘Animal Husbandry and Animal Welfare Group’ in Germany have been working on the ‘Assessment of Animal Housing and Management according to Welfare and Environmental Criteria’. This group has established CCP and critical management points (CMP) for health, behaviour, management and environmental impact. The producer can use these criteria to assess his/her housing system. Further development is required so these criteria can be used by agencies interested in monitoring, evaluating and licensing housing systems (eg. government, consumer, or commodity groups).