Page 10 - National Poultry Newspaper

The Australian Government has been forced to table proposed new standards for poultry welfare in parlia- ment.
RSPCA senior policy officer Jed Goodfellow said battery chickens had been out- lawed in Europe since 2012.
“It is impossible to meet the welfare needs of hens inside these cage sys- tems.”
While the recommen- dations are expected to be met with resistance from some farmers, oth- ers say they are well overdue.
“We know the vast ma- jority of people have been concerned about hens be- ing kept in such cruel and inhumane conditions.”
The new recommenda- tions do allow for the use of so-called “furnished cages”, which are a larger version of battery cag- es, with things such as scratch pads, perches and nest areas for the hens.
Battery caged chickens will be phased out by 2036 in Australia
EGGS from caged hens will be phased out by 2036 under a major plan to end the practice of keeping poultry in bat- tery cages across the country.
cages, while the industry wanted a longer phase- out lasting until 2046.
have lost popularity on supermarket shelves, their decline from the commercial cooking sec- tor has been slower.
it was forced and said it did not oppose the mo- tion to table the docu- ments.
ducer of caged hen eggs in the country, and about one-third of Australia's chicken farms are in the state.
The Federal Govern- ment has been forced to table proposed new standards for poultry welfare in parliament.
Internationally, Aus- tralia has been an out- lier on chicken welfare, with 30 of the 36 nations of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development either having phased out battery cages or in the process of getting rid of them.
Just over half the eggs sold at grocery shops are free range, but the commercial sector uses a higher proportion of eggs from caged hens.
“This process has been going on in some form or another since 2013, so there has been plenty of time for the industry to change their practices,” Dr Faruqi said.
Following the report, the project was taken out of the NSW Govern- ment's hands and handed over to an independent panel.
The draft standards were written by an in- dependent panel, which has recommended tradi- tional battery cages be phased out between 2032 and 2036.
RSPCA senior policy officer Jed Goodfellow said they'd been outlawed in Europe since 2012, and New Zealand would fin- ish their use next year.
A long list of Australi- an manufacturers includ- ing Arnotts, McDonald's and Messina already use free range eggs in their products.
“It's really time for ac- tion.
The Federal Govern- ment's most recent draft attributes the establish- ment of the national pan- el to an “unprecedented number of public submis- sions made during public consultation” and a deci- sion by all the state agri- culture ministers.
But the plan has already been criticised by animal welfare groups for being too slow to end the use of
“Australia really is lag- ging behind at the mo- ment so it is pleasing we're seeing some pro- gress finally,” Mr Good- fellow said.
But smaller producers such as bakeries and res- taurants may have to put up their prices if they are forced to switch to free range eggs, which are generally more ex- pensive.
“I'm certainly not con- vinced the industry needs up to 15 years to tran- sition away from bat- tery cages – it can and it should happen faster.
The RSPCA would like to see the phase-out of existing cages, which would have been installed in about 2008, happen faster.
A Victorian Govern- ment review of scientific literature found caged hens had five times more bone fractures than hens in other systems.
Setting the new stand- ards has been a protract- ed process that began more than four years ago.
However, industry ex- perts suggest it is unlike- ly many farmers would spend money replacing battery cages with slight- ly larger ones and would be more likely to move to barn-laid systems al- together.
“We would like to see the transition timeline shortened considerably,” Mr Goodfellow said.
The new standards were only tabled after Greens senator Dr Mehreen Faruqi forced the gov- ernment to release details of the new standards in a special motion in the Senate.
It was then that the NSW Government had been asked to lead the process for national re- forms via its Department of Primary Industries.
“Ten to 15 years is far too long.
Documents were pub- lished at the time sug- gesting the department colluded with the chicken industry to stifle attempts at a phase-out — some- thing the government and industry denied.
Once approved, it will be up to the state ag- riculture departments to turn the new standards into state-based regula- tions.
First appeared on abc. net.au
“We can produce safe, affordable, nutritious eggs without confining animals to small barren cages.”
“Countries around the world have already ended or phased out cages.
While caged hen eggs
The government denied
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Page 10 – National Poultry Newspaper, July 2021
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