ban on battery cages & pigs directive peter stevenson compassion in world farming
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Ban on Battery Cages & Pigs Directive
Peter Stevenson
Compassion in World Farming
EU ban on conventional battery cages & on sale of battery eggs comes into force
1st January 2012
We are opposed to any postponement of the ban on battery cages
Intra-Community Trade
• Producers who are compliant by 1.1.2012 must be protected from unfair competition from producers who continue to unlawfully use battery cages
• From 1.1.2012 sale of battery eggs is prohibited under EU Egg Marketing Regulation
• Governments entitled not to permit sale of battery eggs unlawfully produced in other Member States
We oppose weakening of sales ban
• Opposed to legalising of sale of battery eggs in MS of production
• Would remove incentive for farmers to move away from battery cages
• Opposed to code ‘4’ for battery eggs – would legalise sale of battery eggs
Volume of intra-Community trade in eggs & egg products:
Data based on 2010 study produced for EP ComAgri
• Only 11.5% of EU egg production (shell eggs & egg products) is traded between the Member States (MS)
• 85.4% is used in MS of production.
• Remaining 3.1% is exported to third countries
• Proportion of egg production exported to other MS
Member State % exported to other MS
Spain 2.2%
Italy 3.0%
Poland 3.9%
France 9.2%
Food businesses supporting the move away from cages
• All Dutch & Austrian & most Belgian supermarkets have stopped selling battery eggs. All big German supermarket chains now cage-free.
• Many foodservice operators no longer use battery eggs - vast majority of whole eggs used in EU by McDonald’s, Europe’s leading foodservice operator, are free range.
• Food manufacturers moving away from cage eggs. Unilever, Europe’s second largest food manufacturer, aims to be cage-free in all mayonnaises & dressings in a range of MS by 2012
Position of UK retailers re battery cage ban Company Shell eggs Egg ingredients
Sainsbury’s Cage-free Cage-free by 2012 on own label products
Marks & Spencer Free range Free range on own label products
Waitrose Free range Free range on own label products
Co-op Free range Free range on 70% of own label products
Morrisons Free range on own label Not cage-free
Tesco Is replacing battery eggs with enriched cage eggs
ASDA Plans to replace battery eggs with enriched cage eggs
Member State Food business activity
UK • Supermarkets: see table• Many foodservice operators cage-free, e.g. Pret à Manger, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Subway, JD Wetherspoon & Ikea.
France • Sales of cage-free eggs represent 31% of total retail sales in volume & 45% in value• Lustucru, a leading pasta brand, has launched new range of ‘free-range’ pasta
Italy • Leading retailer, Coop Italia, cage-free on all shell eggs & working on going cage-free on egg product • Big retailer, Esselunga, cage-free on its own branded shell eggs. • 4 pasta producers & 1 ice-cream maker received Good Egg Awards
Spain • Calvé uses only free range eggs for its mayonnaise. • Autogrill & Ikea are cage-free. • Autogrill has big communication campaign informing its customers about its use of free-range eggs.
Germany • All big supermarket chains are cage-free. • Most pasta producers, 30 producers of bakery products & 20 foodservice companies cage-free or are in process of becoming so
Need for improved enforcement of Pigs Directive
Widespread breaches of Pigs Directive’s requirement to provide enrichment materials &
its prohibition on routine tail docking• 2008-09 CIWF investigation
in UK, Germany, Spain, NL, Demark & Hungary – visited 74 farms
• Vast majority in breach of Directive as had no enrichment materials & almost all pigs were tail-docked
• Investigation in France - no enrichment materials & routine tail-docking
FVO reportsFVO reports over last 15 months concerning 13 MS show
widespread failure by pig industry to comply with requirement to provide enrichment materials & prohibition on routine tail docking equally pervasive failure by MS to enforce this legislation
Percentage of undocked pigs in surveyed countries: EFSA report 2007
Copyright EFSA
EFSA: Over 90% of pigs in EU are tail-docked
Directive requires provision of enrichment materials
• “must have permanent access to a sufficient quantity of
material to enable proper investigation and manipulation activities”
• Directive requires provision of materials “such as straw, hay, wood, sawdust, mushroom compost, peat”
• Legally, if use a material other than one of those specified, it must be as effective in enabling “proper investigation and manipulation activities”
Which materials provide effective enrichment?
• EFSA reviews of scientific research– enrichment materials
should be complex, changeable & destructible
– chains, tyres, toys, balls, plastic objects & chewing sticks are not effective enrichment materials
Directive prohibits routine tail docking
• “inadequate environmental conditions or management systems must be changed” before docking is carried out
• EFSA: principal causes of tail biting include absence of straw & barren environment
• Farmer must provide effective enrichment materials before s/he legally entitled to tail dock