The European Commission issued an ultimatum to 13 member states to comply in the shortest of terms possible with the 1999 Council Directive laying down minimum standards for the protection of laying hens. According to its provisions these nations had failed to improve animal welfare conditions. Under this law egg-laying hens must be kept in so-called "enriched” or “furnished” cages, with "extra space to nest, scratch and roost." Under the directive, enriched cages must be at least 45 cm high and must provide each hen with at least 750 cm² of space; 600 cm² of this must be "usable area" – the other 150 cm² is for a nest-box.
In Bulgaria only 10 out of 121 poultry farms for laying hens do not comply with the requirements. Agriculture and Food Minister Miroslav Naydenov held a meeting with the representatives of the professional organization of egg farmers to agree on the deadlines for the subsequent actions.
“The professional organization of the egg manufacturers and the Bulgarian Food Agency assured me that the Bulgarian egg farmers will meet the criteria by June when the next European Commission mission is due. In this way Bulgaria will not suffer financial sanctions. Currently there are less than 500 000 laying hens kept in cages that do not comply with the European directive,” Agriculture and Foods Minister Miroslav Naydenov pointed out.
Bulgaria paid a heavy price for aligning its poultry farms in compliance with the hen welfare directive. In 2007 there were nearly 11 million laying hens. But the majority of those farms did not have the means to modernize and simply closed their production. At present there are about a hundred farms left, which almost entirely meet the requirements. That is why Bulgaria fears no sanctions in that respect. However, the Bulgarian egg manufacturers have concerns of a different sort. They fear disloyal competition on the part of fellow farmers from other countries, which will not be able to meet the requirements in the nearest future. And will continue dumping the prices of their produce selling their eggs laid by hens that had been kept in conditions that do not abide by the new requirements at the price of eggs laid in ‘enriched cages’.
“Ever since the new regulation took effect on January 1, 2012 we have launched inspections in the commercial outlets and the first such attempt at duping the customers has been intercepted,” Agriculture and Foods Minister Miroslav Naydenov argued. We have found a large batch of conventionally laid eggs in a major hypermarket chain, Kaufland, in a 10-egg pack from Poland, which contained a mixture of eggs from hens in ‘enriched cages’ and conventional ones. Contrary to the requirements which state that the eggs should be treated thermally, they had been imported in Bulgaria instead. It is not that they represent a health hazard, but this leads to disloyal competition, which can kill the Bulgarian business,’ Mr. Naydenov argued.
The batch in question was seized and culled because the directive requires that the eggs that had not been laid by hens in ‘enriched cages’ ought not to be sold on the market, but should be sent for industrial processing.
According to Ivan Angelov, President of the Bulgarian Organization of Egg Manufacturers, the Bulgarian customers were protected against such fraud on the part of Bulgarian manufacturers.
“There has been strict control over such matters in Bulgaria. There are veterinary inspections round the clock in the 10 farms that still rear hens in conventional and ‘enriched’ cages and the eggs laid by hens in conventional cages are sent for industrial processing. We insist on rigorous measures in the countries that are major egg producers. For example, in neighbouring Greece 905 of the hens are reared in the old type of cage. In Poland only 50% of the farms have been modernized, and in Spain 85% of the hens are bred in conventional cages.”
In defence of this legitimate claim on the part of the Bulgarian egg manufacturers, Bulgarian Agriculture and Foods Minister Miroslav Naydenov agreed to write a letter to his counterparts in the other EU member states that have still not complied with the Council directive claiming that only certified eggs entered the Bulgarian market. According to data of the European Commission, nearly 50 million laying hens are still reared in traditional cages. In January alone they laid almost 1 billion eggs, which run the danger of being sold illegally on the European market as eggs laid in ‘enriched cages’.
English version by Radostin Zhelev
