Lessons to be learned from European Union's cage ban

摘要

Member states have not been able to use conventional cages for egg production since January 2012. The route to get there could have beenThe European Union's move away from conventional cages for egg production may now be complete, but achieving this change was not easy, and the process may provide an interesting example for others consideringfollowing suit.While the European Union's decision to allow a long period to phase out battery cages may have been welcomed, the lack of information on which housing systems would be acceptableand which would not resulted in under-investment in the sector and producers delaying making the change.Total egg production may now have largely recovered after declines at the turn, of the decade, but the European egg market did not escape price swings in response to a contraction in output followed by an unexpected upturn in egg production.