EU action as countries flout ban on hen cages

Legal proceedings will begin against 14 countries who have failed to phase out the battery farming systems ahead of a blanket ban which came into effect at the start of this year.

British farmers have been very concerned about the situation, having complied with the EU edict early and eradicated battery systems ahead of the deadline.

However as many 46.7million hens are still being housed in battery systems in Europe, according to EC figures. So far Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Holland, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain have failed to comply with the ban.

An EC spokesman this week said that inspectors would be visiting these countries to gather evidence and that fines would follow thereafter.

The issue is causing great concern in this country, with farmers fearful that cheap and illegal foreign-farmed battery eggs will flood the market and undercut domestic producers. The British Hen Welfare Trust (BHWT) charity estimates British egg farmers have invested around £400m to comply with the new regulations.

Jane Howorth, BHWT founder, said: “Three billion eggs are processed in the UK every year (taken out of their shells and sold as liquid, dried or frozen egg to the food industry). One billion of these eggs are currently imported and therein lies the worry. It is likely that not only will consumers be unwittingly eating illegal eggs produced to lower welfare standards, but we will also be putting British egg farmers at a serious commercial disadvantage, as they struggle to compete with overseas markets that continue to flout the rules.”

It was this week estimated that as many as one billion eggs produced by battery hen systems could be on sale in Europe.

However, UK politicians have refused to ban foreign egg imports, instead trying to pursue a voluntary agreement with retailers not to stock them. So far most leading supermarkets have agreed.

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