Press Release: Animal Welfare: Commission urges 13 Member States to implement ban on laying hen cages

The European Commission, via a letter of formal notice requesting for information, called on Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Romania to take action to address deficiencies in the implementation of EU legislation concerning the welfare of animals, and specifically to implement the ban on "un-enriched" cages for laying hens which applied as of 1st January 2012, as laid down by Directive 1999/74/EC.