European Food Safety Authority recommends banning cage farming of poultry

Practices considered dangerous for animal welfare. The European Food Safety Authority (Efsa) recommends the end of caged poultry farming and their mutilation, in two scientific opinions published on Tuesday 21 February. These have been requested by the European Commission in view of the next revision of animal welfare legislation. They are based on studies that have identified the “hazard” to which broilers and laying hens are exposed on farms in the EU.

As a preventive measure, the EFSA recommends, among other things, banning cage farming, whether individual or collective, responsible according to it for “isolation stress” Or “of the group”, of “restriction of movement” or even of “rest problems” in these poultry. As a replacement, the European regulator prefers aviaries: multi-storey structures with perches and laying spaces for the hens.

At the same time, EFSA recommends reducing the density of farms and stopping mutilation, which consists, for example, of cutting the combs or beaks of gallinaceans to prevent them from injuring each other. She also points out the need for these poultry to have access to outdoor spaces, or at least to “verandas”, and even believes that the ambient noise of farms should not exceed 75 decibels.

Producers fear a loss of competitiveness

These opinions are causing serious concern in the sector. It is “unprecedented recommendations which, if applied in these terms, would quite simply lead to the disappearance of most of the European poultry sector, meat and eggs alike”reacted on Tuesday evening, several European agricultural organizations, such as Copa-Cogeca and Avec, a European federation of poultry producers.

“How will EU producers stand up to fierce international competition that does not apply such high standards on farms?” ask these professionals, citing an already upward trend in imports from Brazil, Thailand and Ukraine. “Implementing such extreme proposals would lead to the closure of small and medium enterprises in rural areas, loss of competitiveness and increased imports, while facing a massive increase in the price of poultry meat for consumers. “these organizations are alarmed.