The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) recommended in two scientific opinions published on Tuesday that cage farming and mutilation of poultry be stopped, practices it believes are dangerous to their welfare, causing serious concern in the industry, AFP reported .

These are “unprecedented recommendations that, if implemented in these circumstances, will simply lead to the disappearance of a large part of the European poultry sector, including meat and eggs,” several European agricultural organizations reacted in a statement on Tuesday evening. , such as Copa-Cogeca and AVEC, the European Federation of Poultry Producers.

“How will EU producers survive in the face of fierce international competition that does not enforce such high standards on the farm?” they asked, referring to the already growing trend of imports from Brazil, Thailand and Ukraine.

These EFSA scientific opinions were requested by the European Commission in view of the upcoming review of animal welfare legislation. They are based on research that has identified the “dangers” facing broilers and laying hens on EU farms.

As a preventive measure, EFSA recommends, among other things, a ban on cage breeding – individual or collective – which it says causes “isolation stress” or “group stress”, “restricted movements” or “resting problems”. “in these birds.

As an alternative, the European regulator prefers the so-called “aviary” system: multi-story buildings with pergolas and chicken coops.

At the same time, EFSA recommends reducing the density of farms and stopping mutilations, which consist, for example, of cutting off the combs or beaks of these birds, so that they do not mutilate each other.

It also emphasizes the need for these birds to have access to outdoor spaces, or at least “ports”, and even specifies that ambient noise on farms should not exceed 75 decibels.

For the industry, “the most shocking recommendation is the proposal to reduce the stocking density of conventional broilers to a maximum of 11 kg/m²”, which “would require producers (…) to invest heavily in the farm, while the number of birds in the shelter would have to be reduced by 72%”.

“Implementation of such extreme proposals will lead to the closure of small and medium-sized enterprises in rural areas, loss of competitiveness and increased imports, facing a massive increase in the price of poultry meat for consumers,” the organizations said. said