Bosses of major supermarkets have been sent a pig in a box as part of the latest campaign by the British Pig Executive (BPEX).

The 10cm plastic pig in a miniature cage is part of the £1 million campaign which is seeking to encourage retailers to stock more produce which meets UK standards.

The box illustrates that while illegal in the UK, it is still legal in Europe to keep sows in cages that allow them only six inches to move backwards or forwards so they are unable to turn around.

A ban on stalls and tethers was introduced here in 1999, but they are still used elsewhere in Europe. This means supermarkets can source cheaper pork, bacon and ham products produced by EU farmers with welfare practices that would not be acceptable in the UK.

A BPEX study has shown two thirds of imported pork, bacon and ham do not meet UK minimum standards and would be illegal to produce in this country. In addition, more than 50% of pork, bacon and ham products on UK supermarket shelves is now imported.

To back up the pig in a box, almost 500,000 cards have been sent out to people interested in rural issues.

The cards can be sent back to BPEX telling the organisation whether they agree with their supermarket's buying policy, if they feel all imported pork should meet the UK minimum standards and if they believe that all pork products should carry the BPEX Quality Standard Mark.

BPEX Chief Executive Mick Sloyan said, "Our aim is to encourage supermarkets to give the British consumer pork produced to UK minimum standards. This will help to give our pig farmers a level playing field."