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06/09/2010 12:12:59
Cage ban derogation discussed at EU
A European minister has indicated that the EU could allow derogations for member states who fail to meet the deadline for the ban on conventional cages.
Despite widespread fears that a number of states would not be ready for the introduction of the cage ban on the 1st of January 2012, the EU has so far insisted that the ban will go ahead as planned and that no country would be allowed to delay implementation of the new rules.
A Belgian minister has now broken rank by suggesting that some countries may be allowed derogations under certain conditions. The politician who made the suggestion was Sabine Laruelle, the Belgian Minister for Small and Medium Enterprises, the Self-employed, Agriculture and Science Policy.
She made her remarks at a recent meeting of the EU Agriculture Committee, and they will be met with some concern by egg producers who have made the investment necessary to comply with the new regulations. The fear amongst UK egg producers is that if countries are allowed to delay implementation of the ban, producers in those countries will be able to compete unfairly with producers who have made the investment.
Sabine Laruelle’s remarks came during a discussion of the conventional cage ban at the Agriculture Committee meeting. She said that the decision to ban the cages had been taken five years ago and she said there would be real difficulties in going back on this decision. She said the transition period had been protracted, to say the least.
However, Ms Laruelle said that if there was ’real proof’ that some states had tried hard to implement the directive but because there were specific, objective reasons why it had been difficult to implement it completely, there might be room for three or four small derogations. She would have to see if the Commission would allow the member states to take up the issue at council level to obtain a derogation, although she felt the transition period had been long enough to allow egg farms to modify their practices.
Sabine Laruelle is a minister in the Belgian Government rather than a European Parliament politician, although Belgium does hold the presidency of the EU at the moment. She was appointed to her current post in March 2008.
Ms Laruelle is a graduate in agronomic engineering, she is a former researcher in agriculture and environment at the University of Luxembourg and the King Baudouin Foundation. She served as director general of the Belgian Agricultural Alliance in 1999-2000 and as director general of the Walloon Region Agriculture Federation from 2001 to 2003.
Mark Williams, chief executive of the British Egg Industry Council, has been warning for some time that a large part of the EU egg laying flock would fail to meet the 2012 deadline. After hearing of Ms Laruelle’s remarks, he told the Ranger, "It comes as no surprise, seeing as we have been telling the Commission there was going to be a problem for years."
Mark said at the BFREPA conference in December that it was estimated that half of the hens currently in conventional cages in Europe would not be converted by 2012. He said that, in theory, 31 per cent of the EU’s hens would become illegal on the January 1 2012.
Mark told the Ranger that revised estimates put the number of non-compliant hens at 29 per cent of EU production. He said that Ms Laruelle’s comments made some form of protection more important. "This makes it even more vital that those producers who have invested to comply with the date of the deadline for the ban on conventional cages are not commercially disadvantaged."
The UK egg industry has been pressing for two measures to be implemented if certain states are allowed extra time. It wants to see an intra-EU trade ban enforced to ensure that eggs produced in conventional cage systems are not allowed to compete with the eggs of producers who have invested in enriched colonies.
It has also been pressing for the introduction of a stamping code to distinguish conventional cage eggs from those produced in enriched systems. The industry has had the support of the UK Government in pressing for these measures. That support has been maintained despite the election of a new Government in May.
Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman recently wrote to BFREPA to confirm the Government’s support for the UK egg industry’s position. She said in her letter, "The Government remains entirely committed to the conventional cage ban coming into force on 1 January 2012, and to supporting industry during this transitional stage. The UK has asked the Commission to be ready to provide sufficient enforcement controls to protect UK producers and to ensure that those producers who have already made significant investment to comply with the legislation by converting out of conventional cages are not disadvantaged if other countries do not meet the 2012 deadline. If there was a delay to the ban, the aim would be to prohibit non-compliant eggs from entering the UK from another member state."
Earlier this year EU agriculture ministers appeared to display their commitment to pressing ahead with the deadline when they rejected a request from Poland to delay the implementation of the ban. The Poles had submitted a formal submission asking for the deadline to be delayed for five years until January 2017. They argued that imposing the ban in 2012 would lead to a shortage of eggs in the EU and result in lower standard and lower welfare eggs being imported from outside the union.
Poland’s request was discussed at a meeting of the EU’s Agriculture Council on February 22 and was rejected by the council after John Dalli, the European Commissioner for Health and Consumers outlined his objections to the Polish proposal.
He told agriculture ministers, "The welfare of farm animals is an intrinsic value of the European Union. Over the past 30 years, EU animal welfare legislation has evolved on the basis of sound scientific knowledge and compromises between economic constraints on producers and the demands of European citizens. The EU is rightly proud of its level of achievement and its widely recognised world leader status as regards the welfare of animals." He said that proposing a postponement of the ban would be a major step backwards for the welfare of laying hens. It would also seriously undermine the credibility of the European Union to implement its laws.
"Such a move would not be understood by the many producers and retailers who have made the necessary changes to adapt their working practices to match the increased consumer demand for welfare friendly products," he said. "All member states had transitional periods long enough to implement the ban by 1 January 2012. At this late stage, a postponement would only serve to break the positive dynamic created by those member states who have already managed to ban eggs from battery cages. It would also create major confusion and uncertainty throughout the entire sector. Postponing challenging deadlines is not the way forward for the EU."
He said the EU and member states had to focus their efforts on fully implementing the ban. A spokesman for the EU Commission told the Ranger that its position had not changed. "The Commission’s position on battery cages for laying eggs remains the same as it was expressed by Commissioner Dalli on February 22 - that the ban should be enforced by 2012."
Despite widespread fears that a number of states would not be ready for the introduction of the cage ban on the 1st of January 2012, the EU has so far insisted that the ban will go ahead as planned and that no country would be allowed to delay implementation of the new rules.
A Belgian minister has now broken rank by suggesting that some countries may be allowed derogations under certain conditions. The politician who made the suggestion was Sabine Laruelle, the Belgian Minister for Small and Medium Enterprises, the Self-employed, Agriculture and Science Policy.
She made her remarks at a recent meeting of the EU Agriculture Committee, and they will be met with some concern by egg producers who have made the investment necessary to comply with the new regulations. The fear amongst UK egg producers is that if countries are allowed to delay implementation of the ban, producers in those countries will be able to compete unfairly with producers who have made the investment.
Sabine Laruelle’s remarks came during a discussion of the conventional cage ban at the Agriculture Committee meeting. She said that the decision to ban the cages had been taken five years ago and she said there would be real difficulties in going back on this decision. She said the transition period had been protracted, to say the least.
However, Ms Laruelle said that if there was ’real proof’ that some states had tried hard to implement the directive but because there were specific, objective reasons why it had been difficult to implement it completely, there might be room for three or four small derogations. She would have to see if the Commission would allow the member states to take up the issue at council level to obtain a derogation, although she felt the transition period had been long enough to allow egg farms to modify their practices.
Sabine Laruelle is a minister in the Belgian Government rather than a European Parliament politician, although Belgium does hold the presidency of the EU at the moment. She was appointed to her current post in March 2008.
Ms Laruelle is a graduate in agronomic engineering, she is a former researcher in agriculture and environment at the University of Luxembourg and the King Baudouin Foundation. She served as director general of the Belgian Agricultural Alliance in 1999-2000 and as director general of the Walloon Region Agriculture Federation from 2001 to 2003.
Mark Williams, chief executive of the British Egg Industry Council, has been warning for some time that a large part of the EU egg laying flock would fail to meet the 2012 deadline. After hearing of Ms Laruelle’s remarks, he told the Ranger, "It comes as no surprise, seeing as we have been telling the Commission there was going to be a problem for years."
Mark said at the BFREPA conference in December that it was estimated that half of the hens currently in conventional cages in Europe would not be converted by 2012. He said that, in theory, 31 per cent of the EU’s hens would become illegal on the January 1 2012.
Mark told the Ranger that revised estimates put the number of non-compliant hens at 29 per cent of EU production. He said that Ms Laruelle’s comments made some form of protection more important. "This makes it even more vital that those producers who have invested to comply with the date of the deadline for the ban on conventional cages are not commercially disadvantaged."
The UK egg industry has been pressing for two measures to be implemented if certain states are allowed extra time. It wants to see an intra-EU trade ban enforced to ensure that eggs produced in conventional cage systems are not allowed to compete with the eggs of producers who have invested in enriched colonies.
It has also been pressing for the introduction of a stamping code to distinguish conventional cage eggs from those produced in enriched systems. The industry has had the support of the UK Government in pressing for these measures. That support has been maintained despite the election of a new Government in May.
Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman recently wrote to BFREPA to confirm the Government’s support for the UK egg industry’s position. She said in her letter, "The Government remains entirely committed to the conventional cage ban coming into force on 1 January 2012, and to supporting industry during this transitional stage. The UK has asked the Commission to be ready to provide sufficient enforcement controls to protect UK producers and to ensure that those producers who have already made significant investment to comply with the legislation by converting out of conventional cages are not disadvantaged if other countries do not meet the 2012 deadline. If there was a delay to the ban, the aim would be to prohibit non-compliant eggs from entering the UK from another member state."
Earlier this year EU agriculture ministers appeared to display their commitment to pressing ahead with the deadline when they rejected a request from Poland to delay the implementation of the ban. The Poles had submitted a formal submission asking for the deadline to be delayed for five years until January 2017. They argued that imposing the ban in 2012 would lead to a shortage of eggs in the EU and result in lower standard and lower welfare eggs being imported from outside the union.
Poland’s request was discussed at a meeting of the EU’s Agriculture Council on February 22 and was rejected by the council after John Dalli, the European Commissioner for Health and Consumers outlined his objections to the Polish proposal.
He told agriculture ministers, "The welfare of farm animals is an intrinsic value of the European Union. Over the past 30 years, EU animal welfare legislation has evolved on the basis of sound scientific knowledge and compromises between economic constraints on producers and the demands of European citizens. The EU is rightly proud of its level of achievement and its widely recognised world leader status as regards the welfare of animals." He said that proposing a postponement of the ban would be a major step backwards for the welfare of laying hens. It would also seriously undermine the credibility of the European Union to implement its laws.
"Such a move would not be understood by the many producers and retailers who have made the necessary changes to adapt their working practices to match the increased consumer demand for welfare friendly products," he said. "All member states had transitional periods long enough to implement the ban by 1 January 2012. At this late stage, a postponement would only serve to break the positive dynamic created by those member states who have already managed to ban eggs from battery cages. It would also create major confusion and uncertainty throughout the entire sector. Postponing challenging deadlines is not the way forward for the EU."
He said the EU and member states had to focus their efforts on fully implementing the ban. A spokesman for the EU Commission told the Ranger that its position had not changed. "The Commission’s position on battery cages for laying eggs remains the same as it was expressed by Commissioner Dalli on February 22 - that the ban should be enforced by 2012."
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