The egg industry has been given a generous 12 years to prepare for the barren battery cage ban that was passed by the EU in 1999. Now, with less than one year to go until the ban comes into force, some countries are claiming that they still cannot be ready in time, and are requesting delays and exemptions. They are even suggesting that the sale of illegally produced battery eggs should be permitted in their country of production.
Any delay or weakening of the ban would mean egg-laying hens continuing to suffer in cramped, barren battery cages where they are denied recognition of their most basic behavioural needs -- scratching for food, laying eggs in a nest, roosting, dustbathing, and even stretching their wings.
Help us to defeat this attempt to derail vital EU legislation by taking action now. Write to Caroline Spelman, UK Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to tell her that there can be no excuses, no exemptions and no delays.
To: Caroline Spelman, UK Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Subject: EU Ban on Barren Battery Cages
Dear Secretary of State,
Council Directive 1999/74/EC -- Ban on barren battery cages
I fully support the EU ban on barren battery cages and on the sale of EU battery eggs due to come into force on 1 January 2012.
It is nearly 12 years since the ban was passed in 1999. There can be no good reason for any delay in implementing the legislation.
I am pleased that the UK government is opposed to any postponement of the ban on battery cages. However, I am concerned that Defra is pressing for the EU ban on the sale of battery eggs to be weakened to permit the sale, after 1 January 2012, of illegally produced EU battery eggs in the country of production. If, for example. Spanish farmers are told that they can continue to sell their battery eggs, they will have little incentive to move away from battery cages.
The ban on the use of barren battery cages is one of the EU's greatest achievements in the field of animal welfare. Like many people in the UK and across the European Union, I would be extremely disappointed if the ban was to be delayed or weakened in any way. I therefore urge you, as the Secretary of State for Defra, to ensure that the UK does not adopt a course of action that will undermine the ban.
