Ireland's stance has always been to be supportive of enhanced welfare for laying hens whilst at the same time seeking to ensure a correct balance between welfare and the need to protect the interests of the Irish and EU producer. I am therefore fully supportive of new EU rules in the form of Council Directive 1999/74/EC which prohibits conventional battery cages from the year 2012 and the following associated declaration adopted when the directive was introduced: "The Council and the Commission, stressing the need to ensure equal conditions of competition between European Union and third-country producers, considered that international acknowledgement of animal welfare rules must be one of the key points of the negotiating brief for the WTO Millennium Round."
It is premature to speculate as to whether the phase-out of conventional battery cages within the EU will lead to mass importations from third countries. Recent data for Switzerland would indicate a downward trend in imports and an increase in the production of eggs in shell in that country. I would draw attention to Council Directive 98/58/EC on the protection of animals kept for farming purposes, which requires the EU Commission to submit a report to Council on the following: the comparison between animal welfare provisions in the Community and in non-member countries which supply the Community, the scope for obtaining wider international acceptance of the welfare principles laid down in this directive, and the extent to which Community objectives in relation to animal welfare may be liable to be undermined as a result of competition from non-member countries which do not apply equivalent standards.
