MEP calls for skull & crossbones symbol to be stamped on illegal EU eggs
The European Commissioner for Agriculture, Dacian Ciolos has been on the receiving end of a major broadside from the East of England MEP Stuart Agnew (UKIP).
The Commissioner was attending a debate (15.3.11) on the Work Programme for 2012 and was told in no uncertain terms that the EU needs to get a grip on the serious problem of 83 million illegal eggs that will be produced on the very first day of 2012.
Mr Agnew told the Commissioner: You will say to me that this is not my responsibility, its the Trade Commissioner or the Environment Commissioner. Somebody has got to get a grip on this. I dont know who it is going to be but I should imagine you must be involved as egg production is a front-line agricultural activity.
He advised the Commissioner that he had been doing some digging to find out what preparations are being made in the rest of Europe in advance of the ban on battery eggs and found that: It is very much business as usual. The chick placements for 2010 have actually gone up, not down, which means that battery cage birds will be replaced with 16 week old poults. In other words, they (battery egg producers in other EU countries) are expecting to carry on after 1st January.
As you know, British producers have spent 400 million of their own money to comply with your regulations. They cannot be left standing like rabbits in the headlights while all these other egg producers carry on producing illegal eggs.
Mr Agnew concluded his remarks to the Commissioner by suggesting that the EU uses its promotional budget to arrange for the illegal eggs to be stamped with a nice symbol of the skull and crossbones, so that everyone knows where they are.
