Document type: Answer from the European Commission to Question E-003166/23
Authors: question: Annika Bruna (ID), Eric Minardi (ID), Ivan Vilibor Sinčić (NI), Petras Auštrevičius (Renew), Elżbieta Kruk (ECR), Aurélia Beigneux (ID). Reply: Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission
Question: For reasons of animal welfare, France and Germany have banned the maceration and gassing of male chicks. Male chicks are considered undesirable by the poultry sector because they cannot lay eggs or be used for broiler production if they come from strains which are considered to have a poor growth performance.
However, in-ovo sexing methods make it possible to determine the sex of the future chick while it is still in the egg, so as to avoid the hatching and subsequent killing of male chicks. In France alone, this avoids killing 45 million chicks every year.
However, the cost of in-ovo sexing must be passed on to consumers, which distorts competition to the detriment of the French and German poultry sectors.
In the context of its revision of Directive 98/58/EC concerning the protection of animals kept for farming purposes and in order to avoid penalising those who are making an effort to improve animal welfare:
- Will the Commission extend the ban on killing male chicks to the entire EU market?
- Will it extend this ban to all poultry products imported into the EU?
Answer: The Commission confirms that the prohibition of killing male chicks in the EU egg sector is an option considered in the context of the ongoing preparatory work on the revision of the EU animal welfare legislation.
The economic impacts of this option are being carefully considered to minimise possible market disruptions in the egg sector. The Commission is also assessing the trade implications with third countries of such prohibition with due regard to the international obligations of the EU.
The first legislative proposal, concerning animal transport, is planned for adoption in December 2023. For the rest of the legislative revision, in particular the part relevant for the measure on the killing of male chicks, no details about the adoption date can be provided at this stage.
