James Paice MP
Minister of State for Agriculture and Food
DEFRA
Nobel House
17 Smith Square
London SW1P 3JR

29th November 2011

Dear Jim,
I write to you to express my concern over the possibility of illegal battery-farmed eggs being imported into Britain after the EU wide ban on battery cages comes into force on 1st January 2012.
I welcome the fact that conventional barren battery cages will be banned under EU legislation from 1st January - I worked on the original legislation and know that producers have had 13 years to replace these with free range, barn systems or so-called "enriched battery cages".
A report by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) Committee has revealed that while UK producers are expected to be ready to meet the new minimum welfare standards, around a third of egg production across the rest of Europe will be from illegal barren battery cages.
For the sake of consumers who may rightly assume they are buying eggs that meet particular animal welfare standards, and British producers who have invested significantly to comply with new welfare standards, I ask that you:
• Lobby the European Commission to allow member states to implement an intra-community trade ban to stop illegal eggs being traded outside the countries where they were laid;
• Set up a rigorous checking mechanism to ensure only legal eggs and egg products are allowed in to England from elsewhere in Europe;
• Work with member states which are expected to have non-compliant producers to prevent illegal eggs from entering England.
I urge you to take the lead on this issue and look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,

Caroline Lucas, MP, Brighton Pavilion

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