§ 5. Mr. Ivor Caplin (Hove)What steps he is taking to improve the welfare of battery hens. [93389]
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. Elliot Morley)A new EU directive on the welfare of laying hens was agreed on 15 June. It requires all member states to ban the conventional battery cage from 1 January 2012 and to apply improved standards to its use in the meantime.
§ Mr. CaplinI thank my hon. Friend for that reply and congratulate him and other Ministers on the success of those negotiations. I draw to his attention the excellent campaign run by Compassion in World Farming over many years to end the rearing of battery hens in the EU. 561 Can he reassure me that during the next 10 years of negotiations, the Government will ensure that third-country imports to the EU do not lessen the important animal welfare improvements that we have made by ending the rearing of battery hens in cages?
§ Mr. MorleyMy hon. Friend is right. I pay tribute to the work done by CWF, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and other groups, which put forward a strongly argued case on scientific and welfare grounds on such issues as battery cages. It is encouraging that the European Council of Ministers has embraced animal welfare issues on a Europe-wide basis, which is different from some of our discussions on the pig industry, for example, which were unilateral. Addressing such issues in Europe is one thing, but we must also address welfare standards in the World Trade Organisation talks. I am pleased that that was in the minds of Ministers at the Agriculture Council. I believe that welfare standards and labelling will feature in the forthcoming talks.
§ Mr. Christopher Gill (Ludlow)I believe that I am correct in saying that, yesterday, the House was told that a plant in the far east had been licensed to supply poultry products to this country or to the European Union without even an inspection. There is a great deal of hypocrisy here. How will the Government be sure that food imported from third-world countries complies? If it does not, and they cannot give a categoric assurance, does it not make a complete mockery of all that has been said in answer to previous questions this afternoon?
§ Mr. MorleyPlants which export to the EU have to meet EU standards and they are inspected by EU Commissioners. The delegation which inspected Thailand included a British vet. The EU is bringing forward a report on the standards of poultrymeat from third countries. That report is overdue, but we are pressing for it to be made available as quickly as possible so that we can see its conclusions.