Roughly 5 percent of the eggs presently produced in Romania can no longer be sold as of January 1, 2012 because farmers don’t meet the required European animal protection standards, according to the Union of Poultry Breeders in Romania (UCPR), cited by Hotnews.
Starting next year, eggs produced by hens that are kept in unimproved cages can no longer be sold, following an order issued by the National Sanitary Veterinary and Animal Protection Authority.
Eggs will have to be labeled with the numbers 0, 1, 2 or 3 depending on the way the hens are raised and fed:
- 0 – organic eggs;
- 1 – extensive production, the eggs comes from free range hens, but their food is not necessarily organic;
- 2 – the eggs are produced by hens which are kept on the ground but indoors and which are fed with conventional feed;
- 3 – chickens are kept in battery cages;
There are about 200 eggs producers in Romania and the annual production is estimated at 1,36 billion eggs.
Simona Bazavan