Minister of State for Agriculture and Food, James Paice MP, has confirmed that eggs being produced in barren battery cages across the EU, and egg products made from them, cannot be exported from their own countries of origin and sold on the UK market.
In a letter to the British Egg Industry Council he stated that, under an agreement between the Commission and non-compliant Member States, "eggs from conventional cages could only go to processing in the Member State of origin and could not be exported" and that the "egg products created could only be used in food products or industrial products manufactured within the Member State of origin".
British egg producers have invested £400 million on phasing out barren battery cages and all British cage eggs now come from new, enriched colony cages.
Yet producers in 13 other EU countries, including Spain, Italy and Poland, have not fully complied with the ban and it is estimated that around one-quarter of EU cage egg production does not meet the legal requirements, with some 50 million hens still being kept in barren battery cages, producing more than 40 million eggs a day.
Following the letter from the Minister, in which he also agreed to meet BEIC representatives shortly to discuss issues affecting the egg industry, the BEIC has not proceeded with the next stage of the Judicial Review process which it started in January.
