Poultry Meat and Layer
Hen
Directive
Poultry
Meat
and Layer Hen
Directives
Judit Krommer
European Commission, DG SANCO
Animal Helalth and Welfare Directorate
The views expressed may not in any circumstances be
regarded as stating an official position of the European
Commission
I. Broilers
Council Directive 2007/43/EC
laying down minimum rules for the
protection of chickens kept for
meat production
Genesis
Scientific opinion March 2000
Consulting industry/stakeholders:
2001 onwards
7 WGs with Member States
experts
General stakeholder consultations:
September 2003, December 2004
Commission proposal: May 2005
Political agreement: May 2007
New requirements for the
welfare of broiler chickens:
The Future Council Directive
The Directive to be transposed by 30
June 2010
Minimum standards
Organic production and free range
production (EU marketing standards) not
covered
Maximum stocking densities
33 kg/m2 for holdings complying with the
basic requirements (Annex I)
39 kg/m2 with additional welfare
standards (e.g. climate control,
additional record keeping)
Additional 3 kg/m² (= max. 42 kg/m²) if
mortality is constantly maintained low
(e.g. under 3,1 % for chickens
slaughtered at the age of 35 days, 3,5
% for 42 days) and guidelines to good
management practice are applied.
Other farming conditions
• Fresh litter
• Feeding and drinkers
• Light intensity (20 lux) and periods of
darkness (6 hours)
• Ventilation and heating (general
requirements for all holdings;
temperature, humidity and air quality
thresholds for holdings with more than
33 kg/m²)
Farm management
• Inspections twice a day
• Record keeping and documentation of
health and welfare relevant parameters
(more detailed for holdings with more
than 33 kg/m²)
• Training courses and certificates for
keepers
Obligations for the MS
• Inspections and sanction system,
possibility to monitor proper
enforcement by the FVO
• Data collection in slaughterhouses on
animal welfare indicators (mortality,
pathogeneses including foot pad
lesions)
• Annual report on enforcement
Future initiatives of the
Commission
Report and possible proposal on animal welfare labelling
(31 December 2009)
• Report and possible proposal on genetic parameters
resulting in bad welfare
(31 December 2010)
• Scientific evaluation of data on animal welfare indicators,
report and possible proposal (30 June 2012)
•
Looking back: the Commission proposal
Principle objectives
Focus on the farming process to
achieve an improvement of the
animal welfare conditions.
Efficient integration of animal
welfare checks and data
collection.
Facilitate exchange information
between slaughterhouse, official
veterinarians, competent
authorities, producers and
private veterinarians.
Improving animal welfare through an
output-oriented approach
Use of indicators such as MORTALITY
and CERTAIN PATHOLOGIES found in
slaughtered flocks
Producers: Increased awareness of
shortcomings which reduce the
productivity of their facility
Improving animal welfare through an
output-oriented approach
Efforts to reduce mortality
and pathologies such as
foot pad dermatitis would
create an additional
economic incentive for the
breeders to give higher
priority to welfare-related
selection criteria.
II. Layer Hen Directive
“Communication from the Commission to
the European Parliament and the Council
on the various systems of rearing laying
hens in particular those covered by
Directive
1999/74/EC”
Community legislation to protect
laying hens …
• Directive 1999/74/EC mandates the
Commission …
… to submit to the Council a
report, drawn up on the basis of a
scientific opinion and a socioeconomic assessment, on the
various systems of rearing laying
hens.
The report of the Commission was
adopted in January 2008 and takes
into account data collected since 2003
related to:
Scientific research on animal health and welfare, public health,
environmental protection.
Economic and market analysis
Social and ethical aspects
Probably the most comprehensive set of data ever analysed in
this area of work worldwide.
Several national authorities and more than 30 international and
national stakeholders from researchers to retailers have
contributed to the compilation of the Commission report.
Number of laying hens in the different husbandry
systems in 2006
Number of laying Hens
by way of keeping in the EU 25
2006 in '000 heads
Free range
8.3%
26 002
Cage
77.6%
241 957
Organic
2.2%
6 820
Barn
11.9%
37 028
Data on the Proportion of laying hens
in non-cage production systems
(Source: Eurogroup for Animals on the basis of data received from Agra
CEAS Consulting, April 2006 and DG AGRI)
Member States
1995
2006
Belgium
1,9%
14,4%
Denmark
16,1%
45,5%
Germany
6,5%
32,4%
France
3,9%
18,8%
Netherlands
10%
52,6%
UK
10,5%
36,2%
Situation today
e.g. as regards eggs
EU producers cannot compete on
the basis of price with producers
from certain Third Countries, even
today with the predominant use of
unenriched cages.
EU producers have to face this
competition in particular in the
processed egg sector due to the
limited shelf life of table eggs.
What`s
cooking ?
Welfare indicators
Consumers’ information
And marketing
Certification and label
Scientific and technical
research
Competitiveness for
European producers
Consumers’ information
Consumers don’t seem to be
completely content with the existing
labelling schemes identifying the
rearing systems of farm animals. A
slight majority states that they can very
rarely (19 %) or never (32 %) identify
from the label whether the production
system is animal welfare friendly when
they buy eggs, milk or meat
(EUROBAROMETER 2005).
Thinking about animal welfare when
purchasing
"
35%
29%
29%
32%
46%
52%
52%
38%
42%
45%
56%
51%
62%
64%
65%
56%
68%
62%
45%
58%
57%
50%
67%
66%
64%
73%
74%
69%
60%
63%
56%
52%
51%
48%
47%
46%
43%
43%
41%
40%
37%
36%
34%
33%
33%
32%
32%
30%
29%
24%
24%
21%
SE
EL
LU
DK
CY
DE
IT
AT
UK
NL
EU25
Total "Yes"
E
EU
UR
RO
OB
BA
AR
RO
OM
ME
ET
TE
ER
R
SI
LV
FR
MT
FI
Total "No"
BE
PT
LT
ES
IE
HU
PL
EE
SK
CZ
This project aims to accommodate societal concerns
and market demands, to develop reliable on-farm
monitoring systems, product information systems, and
practical species-specific strategies to improve animal
welfare.
The key is to link informed animal product consumption
to animal husbandry practices on the farm.
The project therefore adopts a “fork to farm”
rather than the traditional “farm to fork”
approach”.
New opportunities for competitiveness:
improving the welfare of the animals and
answering to social concerns.
Market strategies
Availability of information on production
methods and their impact on costs and
prices.
Rewards for producing premium quality
products which are distinguishable from
others.
Preferential tariffs for welfare products ?
Enable consumers to make an informed
choice and producers to benefit from
market opportunities!
Possible ways forward:
Standardised animal welfare indicators.
Transparent and easy to use on farm to assess
the welfare of the animals.
Harmonised certification of animal
welfare standards.
Future Research to:
Optimise alternative systems for
the rearing of laying hens
Minimize health and welfare
problems.
Improve know how in non-cage
systems.