Directive 1999/74/EC
Directive 1999/74/EC is legislation passed by the
As alternatives to battery cages, Directive 1999/74/EC allows non-cage systems and
In February 2010, the Polish government formally requested the EU to delay enacting Directive 1999/74/EC by 5 years until 2017,[2] however, this was unsuccessful.
According to figures submitted to the European Commission in 2011, 14 countries were expected to be battery cage free by 1 January 2012. However, six states including Portugal, Poland and Romania admitted they would not be ready, while Spain and Italy, among others, did not know or would not say whether they will meet the deadline.[3] In France one third of egg producers have gone out of business and according to figures of the UGPVB (the industry association) 5% of producers were still not compliant as of January 2012 and have had their licences withdrawn.[4] This has led to fears that cheaper, illegal eggs, particularly liquid egg products, from non-compliant states will flood the market undercutting compliant egg producers. John Dalli, the EU health commissioner, has issued legal warnings to 13 countries over their lack of readiness or effort to enforce the ban.[5] The 13 member states already found to be in breach of the directive are: Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Spain, Greece, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and the Netherlands.[6]
Compliance beyond January 2012
It is clear that beyond the date of the law coming into effect, many hens are still being housed in battery cages. European Commission figures show that more than 47 million hens are still (January 2012) in conventional battery cages across the EU, representing 14.3% of production,[7] although it has been reported this figure might be as high as 23% of EU egg production – equivalent to 84 million hens laying 70 million eggs a day.[8]
15 EU states reported to the EU's Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health that they had non-compliant producers. These states were Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, UK, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Romania. Some of these countries, such as Italy and Belgium, admit to having 30% of illegal production.
In the UK, there are approximately 31 million egg laying hens. Over £400 million has been spent to meet the standards. In January 2012, reports stated that figures from the
References
- ^ "Ecologist, September 2011". Retrieved 22 January 2012.
- ^ "WorldPoultry.net, February 2010". Archived from the original on 20 February 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
- ^ Hickman, Martin (27 December 2011). "The Independent, December 27th, 2011". London. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
- ^ "20 Minutes (France), March 28th, 2012". Retrieved 29 April 2012.
- ^ "Vegnews web-page". Retrieved 15 January 2012.
- ^ "Farmers Guardian, December 20th, 2011". Archived from the original on 27 May 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
- ^ "The Ranger, January 2012". Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
- ^ Lewis, Jason (1 January 2012). "The Telegraph, January 15th, 2012". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 2 January 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
- ^ "The Ranger, January 2012". Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
- ^ "Compassion in World Farming web-page". Retrieved 14 January 2012.
- ^ "Farmers Guardian, January 13th, 2012". Archived from the original on 16 January 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2012.