Minister: Joint EU action to ban caged poultry farming not in sight

Joint EU action to ban battery farming is not yet in sight, but public pressure may help, Czech Agriculture Minister Marek Výborný told the Czech News Agency in an interview. He also said that a new Czech law will require video footage from slaughterhouses to be recorded and kept, in response to recent cases of unacceptable treatment of animals in Czech slaughterhouses. However, it will not be broadcast online, as some animal welfare organisations have called for in the past.

A ban on cages is due to come into force in the Czech Republic in 2027, but so far the European Commission has not put forward a proposal to end battery farming, for which it has been criticised by animal welfare organisations. According to the Czech Association of Poultry Breeders, about 70 percent of eggs are imported to the Czech Republic from Poland, where nearly 72 percent of laying hens were in cages last year. The Polish government has no plans to end battery farming.