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