The European Commission will not accede to the plea from the Netherlands and eleven other EU countries to temporarily relax the criteria for free-range eggs. Due to the indoor confinement order because of avian flu, poultry in many countries has been kept indoors for 16 weeks.
As a result, their eggs no longer meet the label requirements for free-range eggs. However, the EU will work on a vaccination against avian flu in the longer term.
Many Agriculture and Food ministers agreed with the Dutch Minister of Agriculture and Food, Henk Staghouwer, that avian flu is appearing more frequently and for longer periods. According to some experts, this is already the most severe epidemic in many years. Losing the free-range label causes income losses for the egg trade and poultry sector.
Minister Staghouwer pointed out that lifting the 16-week period would have no impact on animal welfare. However, some ministers warned of the risk that consumers might lose trust in the label if animal welfare criteria are not upheld.
Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said that Commissioner Kyriakides is responsible for the marketing criteria of food products, and these cannot be set aside lightly. At a minimum, scientific justification is needed. Some ministers suggested that redesigning poultry houses could create a new form of free-range farming, but even then, marketing rules would have to be adapted.
Brussels will make use of the results from two vaccination trials that France began a few weeks ago. However, this is a longer-term matter.