Posted February 18, 2014
United Egg Producers
(UEP) president, Chad Gregory, recently announced that UEP will no longer seek
passage of the national hen housing and welfare legislation known as the “Egg
Bill,” according to a Feedstuffs article available here.
H.R. 1731, the Egg
Products Inspection Act of 2013, would have amended the Egg Products
Inspection Act to revise provisions concerning the housing and treatment of
egg-laying hens and enforcement of those requirements.
It would have required conventional cages to
be replaced with a colony house system over a phase-in period; required “environmental enrichments” such as perches, nesting boxes, and scratching
areas; required labeling on all egg cartons stating the method of egg
production; and prohibited the transport and sale of egg products nationwide that
did not meet the bill’s requirements.
More information on the bill is available here.
In a statement to members, Gregory said: “Members
should feel proud of the tremendous efforts over the past two years with our
endeavors to pass the Egg Bill. With the
farm bill now concluded, UEP can confirm that it has ceased efforts to pass the
Egg Bill. UEP is now focused on
exploring a range of options with the objective of delivering much-needed
business certainty to America’s egg farmers.”
For more information on animal welfare and food
labeling, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here
and here.
