Eggs will not must be labelled as barn eggs throughout necessary housing measures in plans introduced by Defra.
Eggs will not must be re-labelled within the occasion of a Bird Flu outbreak after an announcement from the Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs this week.
Currently, when necessary housing measures are launched, eggs from free-range birds might proceed to be labelled as ‘free-range’ for 16 as per Egg Marketing Standards Regulations. After that interval, these eggs should then be labelled as barn eggs.
The new plans (which apply to England and Scotland solely) will imply producers can proceed to label eggs as ‘free range’ all through necessary housing measure to “support British farmers”, Defra claims.
“The proposals purpose to chop pointless crimson tape and prices for British producers whereas additionally strengthening provide chains and serving to ship the Government’s dedication to proceed to provide a minimum of 60 % of the meals we eat within the UK.
“Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 is now a global threat and the scale of outbreaks in recent years across the UK and Europe have been unprecedented, with more than 360 cases confirmed across Great Britain since late October 2021,” the division mentioned.
Major outbreaks of avian influenza have occurred within the UK in each 2022 and 2023, inflicting important disruption to the egg sector.
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“With the vast majority of eggs produced in the UK meeting free-range standards, the sector is very important to both British consumers and farmers,” mentioned Gary Ford, Chief Executive of the British Egg Industry Council.
“BEIC has been calling for an amendment to the egg marketing legislation to ensure that our free-range egg farmers can remain competitive and continue to provide British consumers with free-range eggs. This has become increasingly important due to the unprecedented levels of Avian influenza in recent years. The changes are essential to ensure a long-term future for British free-range eggs, which we know consumers want, and we strongly support the consultation”.
“We understand the pressures bird flu outbreaks place on our poultry and egg producers, which is why we continue to prioritise ways to support the industry during outbreaks of this disease,” added Farming Minister Mark Spencer.
“I encourage all those with an interest to take part in this consultation to ensure that our free-range industry continues to thrive in years to come.”
The proposals introduced are nevertheless topic to an eight week session interval.
