Positive comments must be followed by action!

The British Government is still refusing to ban imports of illegal battery eggs from other EU countries - even though another member state, the Czech Republic - has introduced its own embargo on conventional cage egg imports.

A ban on the production of eggs in conventional laying cages came into force in the European Union on January 1 this year, but huge numbers of laying birds are still housed in battery cages across Europe. Shortly before Christmas Agriculture Minister Jim Paice ruled out imposing a unilateral ban on imports, saying he was relying on the UK food industry to reach a ’voluntary consensus’. He said the Government "has thoroughly investigated the possibility of taking unilateral action and bringing in a UK ban on all imports of egg and egg products which have been produced in conventional cages in other member states. However, given the very significant legal and financial implications of introducing such a ban, coupled with practical difficulties in enforcing it, it is not a realistic option."

The British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) has begun judicial review proceedings to challenge the UK Government’s interpretation of EU law. The Government has now responded to the BEIC’s challenge, although a Defra spokeswoman said she could not disclose the contents of that response. The BEIC said the response was being considered by its lawyers and was not yet in a position to make any statement about it.

However, pressure has been increased on the Government as a result of the Czech Republic deciding to ban Polish egg imports. The Czech Agriculture Ministry says its producers have all fulfilled the new EU requirements. It accused not only Poland but also France, Spain and Romania of failing to introduce the new EU rules and Czech inspectors have stopped imports of about half a million eggs.

Despite the move by the Czechs, the British Government is sticking to its position. In response to a question from the Ranger, a Defra spokeswoman simply repeated the original line, ’Given the very significant legal and financial implications of introducing such a ban, coupled with practical difficulties in enforcing it, it is not a realistic option. To protect consumers from buying eggs from battery cages we have worked closely with the major food processors and retailers who have agreed not to supply these eggs or use them in their own foods."

The BEIC has written to Prime Minister David Cameron since news of the Czech ban emerged. In light of the Czech decision, Chairman Andrew Parker reiterated his call for the Government to ban illegal eggs and egg products from the UK.

He said, ’The Prime Minister’s positive comments on the recent Countryfile programme were very reassuring, but we must now have the action that goes with the words. If the Czech government can enforce a ban on illegal eggs, why can’t we?

’We are hugely frustrated that there is wide scale flouting of the Welfare of Laying Hens legislation across the EU and disgusted that a small number of non-Lion British egg producers are still using banned barren battery cages." As we reported last month, 500,000 UK hens on 30 farms were found to be in conventional cages after the start of the ban. The Government said the percentage of UK hens in breach of the rules was low and it was taking action against them.

Andrew Parker said that breaking the cage ban was not only illegal but also grossly unfair on those British Lion producers who had invested some ’400 million to meet the new standards. ’It is imperative that the Government recognises that it needs to act now.

Proper checks need to be put in place to prevent the import of non-compliant eggs and egg products, and fast."

Farmers and others in the food industry are being urged by the BEIC to sign a pledge page on www.legaleggs.com to show their support for keeping eggs and egg products produced from hens housed in illegal battery cages out of the UK. Andrew Parker said, ’The response to our online pledge shows there is overwhelming support from the public for British egg producers who have done the right thing.’

Despite the introduction of the conventional cage ban, the BEIC has estimated that up to a third of the EU laying block may still be in battery cages. The European Commission has now begun formal legal proceedings by writing to 13 member states who have failed to the meet the deadline. Those states are Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Romania.

The BEIC had been warning for the last few years that large numbers of farmers across the EU would fail to hit the deadline and pressing both the European Commission and British Government to take action. However, the UK Government decided it would not impose a unilateral ban on egg imports. Both the British Free Range Egg Producers’ Association (BFREPA) and the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) described the decision as disappointing. The British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) went further. It accused the Government of ’chickening out’ on its promise to protect UK egg producers.

John Retson, chairman of BFREPA, expressed his frustration at the Government’s failure to impose a ban on the importation of illegal eggs. "I am disappointed that we have not got something more concrete in place to give us some control over these imports," he said. "It seems now that we are relying on assurances of retailers that they will use only welfare friendly eggs."

John said that British egg producers had spent vast amounts of money investing in welfare friendly egg production, and BFREPA, the NFU and BEIC had spent time and money lobbying on their behalf to persuade politicians of the need to protect them from illegal egg imports. "I think we have been left very exposed," he said.

At the European Commission, Health Commissioner John Dalli said that inspection teams from the EU’s Food and Veterinary Service would begin targeted audits of non-compliant member states in the coming weeks. Speaking at the Agriculture Council, on

January 23, he said, ’Insufficient enforcement by member states remains a serious problem [...] as it distorts competition between EU producers and undermines our credibility in international negotiations on animal welfare."

Official Commission figures show that almost 47 million hens were still being kept in battery cages as the ban came into force.