Calls have been made for the UK government to ban eggs which flout the forthcoming ban on barren cages in the EU, amid fears that lower welfare quality eggs from states which will not meet the ban could undercut those from more diligent producers. The rules state cages must be 'enriched' with more space, litter for scratching and nesting and perching areas. image expired

MPs who proposed the ban have warned that up to one third of EU eggs will not conform to new rules when they come into force in January 2012. MPs on the all-party Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee claimed in a report that the European Commission is "sleepwalking into a potential commercial disaster" over the new Welfare of Laying Hens Directive. They said the UK poultry industry had been issuing prescient warnings for a year already.

The committee said producers in countries including the UK, where efforts have been made to comply with the new rules will be undercut by those which have not and are now seeking a further six months' grace period. EFRA chair Anne McIntosh said, "The European Commission has just not woken up to the impact that non-compliance with this legislation will have on egg producers in the UK and across Europe.

"UK egg producers have spent around £400 million to improve conditions for laying hens. That money will be wasted and UK producers will be left at a competitive disadvantage if cheaper, illegal and non-compliant shell eggs and egg products can be imported to the UK from other European countries."

As well as calling for the UK government to instigate an intra-community trade ban on eggs which do not meet regulations, the committee's report called upon the EC to penalise states which have made insufficient efforts to improve their standards. Ms McIntosh said, "Any failure by the commission to enforce this new directive effectively will set a worrying precedent for other legislation intended to improve the welfare of farm animals."

Eight states will fail to meet deadline

Although some states, including Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands already ban battery cages, and others including Germany will outlaw them from 1st January next year, several countries including Belgium, Cyprus, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Slovakia have admitted they do not expect to comply in time, while several other states have yet to provide information on their preparedness.

In a statement issued from its London offices last night, the EC assured there would be no concessions to the January deadline, but admitted it would be down to individual states to enforce the new regulations. It said, "There will be no postponement to the ban on conventional cages. Member states are primarily responsible to ensure that eggs not produced in compliance with new standards are not legally marketable. Nevertheless, the Commission has been concentrating its actions to ensure member states take the necessary measures."

Farming animal welfare organisation Compassion in World Farming commented that all countries had had 12 years to prepare for the new regulations and said the demands some states had made for more adjustment time "unacceptable."

Peter Stevenson, Chief Policy Advisor at Compassion in World Farming expressed his disappointment at the dalliance shown in the eight states which are likely to miss the deadline, "I think what we've seen is that for some years the egg industry in many countries somehow believed that the 2012 date would be postponed. As they've now been repeatedly told by all three key EU institutions … that it's not going to be postponed, they're scrambling along to make up for lost time, and some of them are behind time."