UK compliance with battery cage egg ban
Image: dailylife.com
The government has confirmed that the United Kingdom is now completely free of battery cages. The egg industry and the government attracted criticism last month when it was found that 300,000 chickens were still being kept in outlawed battery cages on a total of 30 farms across the UK despite the ban on such cages having come into force on January 1st 2012. The outstanding cases constituted approximately 1% of the UK's chicken population.
The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) had originally projected the achievement of full compliance at February 1st 2012. This projection was underlined by the threat of legal action against farmers that continued to use battery cages. It is thought that approximately 46 million hens remain in battery cages across the European Union, and the European Commission has begun legal proceedings against Spain, Romania, Portugal, Poland, the Netherlands, Latvia, Hungary, Italy, Greece, France, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Belgium.
Compassion in World Farming has welcomed the news, and has declared itself ‘delighted’ that the UK ‘is now rid of the cruel cages, 13 long years after the decision was taken to ban them’. Commenting, 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 and made sure hens in this country are no longer kept in these cruel systems. Now the UK can put all the necessary pressure on the European Commission and other member states without being accused of not having our own house in order.”
Ms Slawinski added that the extent of non-compliance in the UK was 'nowhere near as bad' as in states like Spain and Italy. It was Ms Slawinski's opinion that the aforementioned states ‘don’t seem to have made any effort at all to comply with the ban’.
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
