Defra has confirmed that the UK is finally fully compliant with the EU Welfare of Laying Hens Directive, which came into force on the 1st January. The UK industry and government, which had been vociferous about other member states’ failure to meet the New Year deadline, were caught with egg on their faces when it was revealed that half a million birds in Britain were still housed in illegal unenriched cages.

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When the revelation was made at an EU Commission agriculture meeting, The British Egg Industry Council, which confirmed all of its members were compliant with the ban, said it was “Disgusted and appalled” that a number of producers had not endeavoured to meet the deadline. A spokesperson for Commissioner John Dalli last month said Britain had been “lucky” to avoid infringement proceedings.

Defra said yesterday that the remaining units which had continued to produce illegal eggs, were now out of production. There had been calls from outraged compliant producers in the UK, who spent an estimated £400 million in preparation for the ban, for non-compliant producers to act immediately or quit the industry.

Farm animal welfare charity Compassion in World Farming has expressed its “delight” that the UK is now rid of barren cages “13 long years after the decision was taken to ban them.” The organisation’s senior campaigns manager, Emma Slawinski, said, “We were horrified to learn that there were still battery cages in this country in January, as the industry and government had been confidently saying the UK would be in line with the new law, but we're delighted that DEFRA has acted quickly.”

She said that attention must now turn to other offending states, in which an estimated 46 million birds are still being kept in barren cages. Thirteen of the original 15 non-compliant states are still producing eggs illegally. Further action will be taken against non-compliant states at the end of the month, according to Commissioner Dalli’s spokesperson Frederic Vincent.

When legislation banning unenriched cages came into force in January, over half of the EU member states were not compliant. Animal welfare commentators and concerned members of the pig industry say this does not bode well for pig welfare laws coming into force next January. The new laws ban gestation crates, which have been outlawed in Britain and Sweden for a decade.  

According to Commission data, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Hungary, Latvia, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain are still not compliant with the cage ban. Earlier in the month it was revealed that, for the first time, half of UK systems were producing eggs from chickens allowed to roam, instead of being kept in cages.

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