Call for ban on illegal egg production

NFU members in Montgomeryshire have been busy lobbying their Member of Parliament and Assembly Member, taking the opportunity to press home concerns on a number of issues not least the need for a clampdown on illegal eggs and the behaviour of retailers.

Glyn Davies MP and Russell George AM both attended a recent meeting with members of NFU Cymru who sought their support to ensure UK egg farmers are not undercut by illegally produced eggs when new Europe-wide rules to protect the welfare of laying hens come into force on 1 January 2012.

NFU Cymru Montgomeryshire Chairman Edward Chapman said, "There are fears that up to 13 member states will be producing illegal eggs in 2012. Yet British egg farmers have spent around £400million on upgrading their farms to meet these new standards and there is a real threat that all this effort could be for nothing if they are undercut by cheap imports from countries which are still producing eggs in lower welfare systems.

"NFU Cymru has asked the European Commission to implement an intra-community trade ban on illegal cage eggs to avoid compliant producers being undermined. We have also told the Commission to initiate infraction procedures against member states with non-compliant producers."

"According to figures from the Commission, more than 11 million hens will still be housed in un-enriched cages when the EU ban comes into play on 1 January 2012. We need the support of our politicians to lobby the Commission to ensure that egg producers in this country are not undermined by illegally produced eggs," Mr Chapman said.

Another pressing issue Montgomeryshire farmers were keen to voice unease about was the behaviour of retailers and the need to bring forward legislation on an Adjudicator to rule on disputes under the Groceries Supply Code of Practice, which became effective in February 2010.

Mr Chapman said, "We have two main areas of concern, the first being timing and delay and the second one regarding content. We have been hugely disappointed by what appears to be a lack of urgency by the Government in bringing this legislation forward. Its commitment is to introduce formal legislation sometime next spring but we need it this autumn. As for the content, we believe that appropriate fines must be within the power of the Adjudicator from the outset rather than the penalty being limited to naming and shaming. We also want the Adjudicator to be able to launch investigations based on any information, whatever the source, as long as he is satisfied it is credible."