Rebuilding confidence

No other farming sector suffers from a greater lack of consumer confidence in animal welfare than the poultry sector, according to opinion polls.

In a Eurobarometer survey carried out last year, respondents said priority in improving welfare conditions should be given to broiler chickens, which are raised for meat, and laying hens. Horror stories of chickens being crammed into tiny cages with no room to move created pressure for better conditions. As the sector continues to respond to the set-backs dealt by avian influenza there appears to be a greater need to reassure consumers that the welfare of the animals is being taken seriously.

One way this is being done is through the phasing out of smaller cages in which laying hens have traditionally been kept. A directive was passed in 1999 which required that by 2013 these cages be replaced by "enriched cages" - which have size requirements as well as perches and scratching areas.

Some 80% of egg producers across the EU operate with the traditional cages, the rest producing free-range or barn eggs, says Mark Williams, chief executive of the British Egg Industry Council and the European Union of Wholesale with Eggs, Egg Products, Poultry and Game. Most producers are awaiting a Commission report on the directive, expecting that there may be changes made which could mean different specifications for cages or conditions. "By the end of the year the Commission review will be two years late...people are holding back investing in a new system because of this," says Williams. He says producers need to be given more time to implement the reforms as a result and says the ban on traditional cages should be extended to 2017.

But the Commission believes that producers should go ahead with implementation because changes in the future are inevitable with new scientific advances which may lead to the development of even better cages. The report on the directive has been held up because of the prolonged WTO talks which will affect tariffs in the industry and the 2013 date for the ban is highly reasonable, says one commission official. "There are six years to go. Do they really need more than ten years to change the cages?"

The EU is also working on a directive aimed at improving the conditions of broiler chickens. Negotiations are ongoing between the Council of Ministers and the Commission over the specifics of how chickens should be housed. The Council has been trying to stave off specifying a limit on the density of chickens while the Commission is adamant that an upper limit of 38 chickens per square metre must be set.

Peter Stevenson, chief policy adviser to Compassion in World Farming, says even this is too high but that "any directive is better than none".

The directive will also introduce origin labelling for meat - a provision which already exists for eggs - but there will be cost implications for producers. "There are market opportunities here especially if farmers can inform consumers about their produce," says Philip Tod, the Commission's health spokesman.

Both the Commission and animal welfare groups point out that the Eurobarometer survey shows most people would be willing to pay more for produce coming from good animal welfare conditions.

The huge drop in chicken sales at the height of the bird flu scare has increased the need to make changes in the poultry sector. "The poultry market has recovered from drops in sales but reforms can be part of the recovery process going further," says Tod.

"The long-term survival of the industry depends on animal welfare," says Stevenson.

But the poultry industry believes more time is needed to bring in changes and off-set competition from abroad. "We accept the cages should be prohibited but we want to avoid market distortion and we need more time to phase these cages out," says Williams.

No other farming sector suffers from a greater lack of consumer confidence in animal welfare than the poultry sector, according to opinion polls.