The Belgian government has said that its egg producers will be given more time to comply with the European Union’s ban on conventional cages.
A spokesman for the Belgian Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment Ministry has confirmed to the Ranger that, although the EU cage ban comes into force on January 1 next year, existing Belgian producers will be given an extra six months to comply with the new rules. It is the first official confirmation of the UK egg industry’s fear that many producers in other EU states will continue producing eggs in conventional cages after the official deadline in January 2012.
The British Egg Industry Council believes that a quarter of the EU laying flock will still be in conventional cages after January. It is feared that illegally produced eggs could find their way onto the UK market, unfairly undercutting British egg producers who have invested large sums of money to ensure that they will comply with the new rules.
Katy Lee, assistant director responsible for pigs and poultry in the Brussels office of the National Farmers Union said that the NFU would continue to press the EU to enforce its own rules. Her reaction came after we told her that the Belgian government had confirmed its decision to allow egg producers more time.
’We will continue to emphasise just how much money farmers in the UK have spent to comply with this directive. Farmers have invested ’400 million and we do not want this to be for nothing,’ she said. ’We will continue to work with Defra and with colleagues from other member states to press the EU to enforce the directive.’ If the EU did not do so it would be unfair on producers who had made the necessary investment, she said.
A spokesman for the Belgian ministry involved in implementing the new EU rules told the Ranger that existing producers who had so far failed to comply with the requirements of the cage ban would be given until July 1 next year to abide by the EU directive. He said that both shell and liquid egg from these units would only be allowed to be traded within Belgium and producers would not be allowed to continue with the banned conventional laying cages beyond July 1.
’Our Food Security Agency will be visiting all these units,’ said the spokesman. ’They can continue no longer than July 1 or they will be shut down.’
It is thought that eight countries, including Portugal, Belgium and Poland, are expected to fail to meet the January 1 deadline. The EU has failed to obtain new figures for five other member states, including Italy, Greece and Hungary.
