Calls for EU lawmakers to ban cages for layers

Calls for the European Union to deliver on its promised ban on the use of cages for farmed animals have been made by animal welfare charity Compassion in World Farming in its latest EggTrack 2023 report. The report shows that food companies are focused on providing a cage-free life for egg-laying hens, despite the ongoing challenges posed by avian influenza, inflation and the war in Ukraine. But it says that without their actions being reinforced by legislators, there will not be a final eradication of cages.

Such legislation, it argues, would broadly reflect consumer attitudes, pointing to the 1.4 million EU citizens that signed the ‘End the Cage Age’ initiative in 2020 and the 2023 Eurobarometer report which found that 91% of European believe that protecting the welfare of farmed animals is important and 84% saying animals should be better protected than they are currently.

During the year, 444 companies were monitored by Egg Track. Between them they have made 715 cage-free commitments of which 511 (71%) are reporting progress, with an average of 75% transition to cage-free eggs. They straddle all sectors: 51 manufacturers, 195 retailers and meal kit providers, 111 restaurants, 13 producers and 74 food service and hospitality companies are represented.

Figures differ across the globe. The highest average transition to cage-free eggs in Europe was 80%, while in the US it was 73% and in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region the figure was 57%. A total of 9 companies made new global cage-free commitments.

As regards legislation, France has banned the installation of new cages and all cage systems for hens are already banned in Austria, Luxembourg and Switzerland. Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have enacted bans that will come into force in the coming years. The US is also making strides with bans on battery cages across 11 different states.