23.02.2010

The Agriculture and Fisheries Council rejects call to extend battery cage deadline.
The Council took note of a request made by the Polish delegation to postpone the date imposing the prohibition of unenriched cages for laying hens by five years. Council directive 1999/74 lays down minimum standards for the protection of laying hens and provides that the rearing of laying hens in so called unenriched cage systems is prohibited with effect from 1 January 2012.
The Commissioner in charge of Health and Consumer Policy, John Dalli, rejected this request, but proposed to the Polish authorities to use the existing possibilities within the rural development programs for bringing poultry holdings into line with those standards by that deadline.