The Caged Chicken or the Free-Range Egg? The Regulatory and Market Dynamics of Layer-Hen Welfare in the UK, Australia and the USA

Abstract

Since the 1990s there have been a number of government and market led initiatives to improve the welfare of layer hens in the United Kingdom, Australia and the USA. The focus of these regulatory and market initiatives has been a shift away from the dominant battery-cage system to enriched cages, barn/aviary and free-range production systems. Government regulations have played an important role in setting some minimum welfare standards and the banning of battery cages in the UK and in some US states. However the commodification and market segmentation of higher welfare standards has also seen the growth in production and demand of cage-free and free-range eggs in all three countries. This paper maps and compares the developments in government regulation and market segmentation of layer-hen welfare in the UK, Australia and the USA. The role of labelling and certification in facilitating commodification and market segmentation will be examined, including the public controversies and legal conflicts over egg labelling. The key state, market and civil society actors in each country will also be identified, and their role in driving or resisting higher standards examined, including the increasingly influential role of animal welfare organizations and food corporations.

Animal welfare regulations and practices in 7 (potential) trade-agreement partners of the EU with a focus on laying hens, broilers and pigs : Mexico, Chile, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey and the Philippines

“…While government regulations have played an important role in some countries (e.g. the EU and some US states), this has been much less the case in Australia (Scrinis et al, 2017; for more information about the controversy over free-range eggs in Australia as described by Scrinis et al, 2017, see Annex 4).…”

“…The MCOP for poultry (PISC, 2002a) specifies an outdoor stocking density of 1500 birds per hectare for free-range layers, but it also contains a loophole (of higher stocking densities allowed with mobile housing) that was used by commercial farmers to apply stocking densities of up to 30.000 birds/ha (Scrinis et al, 2017). In 2018 the controversy probably came to an end by a ruling setting the freerange limit at 10.000 birds/ha (ACCC, 2018).…”

“…In Australia, while battery cages are yet to be banned, there has been a rapid rise in free-range egg production since the early 2000s, now constituting over 40% of the shell-egg market. However, since the early 2010s free-range conditions have triggered public controversy from animal rights and consumer groups generating a demand for higher-welfare eggs (Scrinis et al, 2017).…”

“…Governments in Australia have consistently defended the interests of large-scale producers in recent decades, and have introduced few welfare regulations. Yet the animal industry-friendly policies at the federal level in Australia have increasingly been challenged (Chen 2016, cited in Scrinis et al, 2017).…”

“…In the absence of adequate government regulatory standards, consumers come to rely on private certification schemes and labelling. Food labels often emphasize the housing system, and tend to exaggerate or misrepresent the actual production conditions, thereby providing an ''ethical halo'' (Scrinis et al, 2017).…”