French minister pledges support for egg producers

The French minister for agriculture and food, Annie Genevard, has promises to support national egg producers in order for them to meet growing demand.

“The future of the French egg is a collective responsibility. The plans of the egg industry organisation CNBO to build 300 new poultry houses is indispensable for our food sovereignty,” she said.

“But,” she added, “it is necessary that the French become a bit more lenient regarding the expansion or establishment of new livestock farms on our territory. People don’t want them next to their homes, yet at the same time, they consume eggs from Ukraine that do not meet our own production standards or those of the European Union.”

French agriculture is the most virtuous in the world, but also the most demanding. We must support our livestock farmers who do everything they can to deliver quality products,” the minister told a meeting of representatives of the national egg industry.

CNBO earlier accused some of the larger French retailers of selling thousands of eggs from Ukraine. Genevard announced that she wants to reduce the import contingent for eggs from Ukraine by 22% “in order to avoid a distortion of the French market”.

Furthermore, the minister promised to lessen the administrative requirements for poultry farmers, including simpler rules to expand a farm or to start a new one. Compulsory public meetings as part of the procedure to obtain permits will be scrapped. Also, some of the heavy and complex environmental rules will, in future, only apply to a much smaller number of farms, she said.

Genevard congratulated the industry and its organisations for their engagement for the improvement of animal welfare, including the prohibition of systematic culling of male chicks and a further reduction of the number of animals held in cages.

“We can be proud of what we already have achieved. France is ahead of the European average,” she said.

However, she warned that the level of Salmonella infections from eggs is still too high. “We’re not yet where we want to be as regard to vaccination.”

Tags: Ukraine, Poultry, Production, imports, demand, eggs, livestock sector