The New Zealand Pork Industry has the Code of Welfare 2005 (Pigs) as its primary welfare legislation. It is based on 20 minimum standards and has recommendations for the care of pigs. The minimum standards are primarily facilities based.

The objective of this project was to quantify nonhuman animal-based welfare outcomes by observing pigs, pig behavior, and good husbandry. The first stage was to identify welfare indicators to assess and quantify the on-farm welfare
status of pigs. Second, a system (welfare assessment tool) had to be developed to interpret these indicators and link them through to the 20 minimum standards contained in the Code of Welfare 2005 (Pigs). In addition, the tool developed had to be a valid measure of pig health and welfare, accurate in providing a true reflection of the current welfare status, reliable and repeatable, robust and practical, clear and adaptable to allow use by a range of inspectors and production systems.

The welfare indicators were developed in consultation with parties of interest including pork producers; pork industry representatives; and technical staff, pig veterinarians, National Welfare Advisory Committee, and the Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty. The tool developed had a series of primary animalbased indicators, including vocalization/noise, appearance (skin and body condition), behavior, mobility, and feces linked to minimum standards. Supplementary
sheets were developed to expand and quantify the primary indicators listed. The animal-based indicators were scored by the assessors via a traffic light system of green, amber, and red. If an amber or red score was recorded, follow-up
action to identify the cause was undertaken to determine if there was a breach of minimum standard as per the Code of Welfare 2005 (Pigs).