Please help ex-battery hens. Update, recvd email from MEP

[Dunsash]

Hi guys,
I just received newsletter from Ex-Battery Hens Welfare with the following message. We have few rescue hens ourself and absolutely love them. Any battery hen deserve better.



Dear Supporters,

On 16th March UK MEPs sitting on the Environment Committee in Europe will be voting on an amendment to a proposal which if passed would help to improve the lives of millions of hens across Europe.

The amendment is calling for processed foods containing eggs to be labelled with production method to provide consumers with the information needed to make informed choices based on the welfare of laying hens when buying such products.

We need your support to help this amendment. Please see the attached list of MEPs and their email addresses and send the email text below to the member(s) that represent your area.Please include your name and address on the email to your MEP


Bill Newton-Dunn bill.newtondunn@europarl.europa.eu East Midlands
Glenis Wilmott glenis.willmott@europarl.europa.eu East Midlands
Marina Yannakoudakis marina.yannakoudakis@europarl.europa.eu London
Martin Callanan martin.callanan@europarl.europa.eu North East
Paul Nuttal paul.nuttall@europarl.europa.eu North West
Chris Davies chris@chrisdaviesmep.org.uk North West
Bairbre du Brun bairbre.debrun@europarl.europa.eu Northern Ireland
James Nicholson james.nicholson@europarl.europa.eu Northern Ireland
Struan Stevenson struan.stevenson@europarl.europa.eu Scotland
Daniel Hannan daniel.hannan@europarl.europa.eu South East
Caroline Lucas caroline.lucas@europarl.europa.eu South East
Julie Girling julie.girling@europarl.europa.eu South West
Jill Evans jill.evans@europarl.europa.eu Wales
Godfrey Bloom godfrey.bloom@europarl.europa.eu Yorkshire and the Humber
Linda McAvan linda.mcavan@europarl.europa.eu Yorkshire and the Humber



Dear MEP (NAME)

I am writing as a member of your constituency to seek your support for an amendment within the current regulations for the European Parliament and the council on the provision of food information to consumers COM(2008)40.

ENV Committee Vice-Chair Carl Schylter MEP has proposed commission amendment (No 362) for the inclusion of farming production method for all multi-ingredient foods containing eggs or egg products.

This proposal supports an identified need for animal welfare labelling resulting from a significant number of consumers being interested in high-quality products across the European Union. For these consumers, high quality often includes higher animal welfare standards.

In 2012 the EU bans the conventional ‘battery’ cage; following the ban the EU is likely to see increased imports of conventionally caged hens eggs produced outside the EU to supply food processing companies and the foodservice sector.

Egg packs containing shell eggs have to be labelled with the farming method, therefore consumers can (and are) choosing to purchase eggs raised by higher welfare standards. Processed food which contains egg/egg derivatives does not need to be labelled with farming method making it difficult for consumers to choose higher welfare products produced on EU farms. To uphold EU welfare standards it is vital that consumers are able to distinguish between processed food containing eggs produced by hens in conventional cages and those produced by higher welfare standards in the EU.

On March 16th please vote in support of amendment No 362.


Thank you for your support.

[jazzsmum]

Thanks Sasha, will get that done.

[Traceybs]

done, thanks for letting people know about this

[Tarimoor_Art]

Done

[Scubabe]

Already done!

Emails sent to:
Caroline Lucas (Green MEP for South East) carolinelucas@greenmeps.org.uk
Nirj Deva (Conservative MEP for South East) NDeva@europarl.eu.int
James Elles (Conservative MEP for South East) james.elles@europarl.europa.eu
Sharon Bowles (Lib-Dem MEP for South East) info@sharonbowles.org.uk
Catherine Bearder (Lib-Dem MEP for South East) catherine@bearder.eu
Marta Andreasen (UKIP MEP for South East) marta@martaandreasen.com
Peter Skinner (Labour MEP for South East) southeast@peterskinnermep.eu

[Dunsash]

Well done!
I have received a reply from Caroline Lucas office and now hopeful.

Dear Alexandra,

Many thanks for your e-mail about food labelling in relation to food that contains eggs, which Caroline has asked me to respond to on her behalf. Caroline completely agrees with you that all processed food that contains egg and egg derivatives should be labelled with the farming method under which the eggs were produced. This would give consumers vital information about the animal welfare conditions of hens, allowing them to choose only products with high welfare standards.

Caroline has done extensive work on the welfare of egg-laying hens and as President of the Intergroup for animal welfare, this is a very important issue for her. In 1999 Caroline criticised the Laying Hens Directive, saying that although it was an improvement, 'enriched cages', which allow a mere postcard sized amount of additional space compared to traditional cages, are still too restrictive. Caroline has also been actively calling on the Commission to ensure that its legislation on marketing standards for the labelling of eggs are clear so that consumers know exactly what is meant when a product is labelled 'free range', for example.

Caroline has continually supported the work of animal welfare organisations to improve hen welfare, including most recently writing to the Commission pressing them to ensure that their forthcoming communication on agricultural product quality does not weaken or abandon their commitment to the labelling of eggs and egg packs to indicate the farming methods. To read some of Caroline's correspondence with the Commission on the issue of hen welfare please see her website at: www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk/2009/06/08/letter-to-commission-re-egg-laying-hens/. Caroline has also tabled Written Questions to the Commission relating to hen welfare which can be seen on her website at www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk/2009/01/07/written-questions-poultry/ .

As a substitute, rather than a full member on the ENVI committee Caroline will only be able to vote on this issue if there are not enough Green Group MEPs present who are full members. This amendment was, however, tabled by a Green MEP - Carl Schylter, so please be assured that it will be supported by Caroline's Green group colleagues in the ENVI committee.

If you have not already done so I would encourage you to lobby the other ENVI MEPs requesting that they support this amendment next week, as they are more likely to vote in favour if they know this is what their constituents/UK citizens are calling for. For a list of all the MEPs on the ENVI committee, including all the Members from the UK please see: www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/committees/membersCom.do?language=EN&body=ENVI .

Caroline will continue to do all she can to ensure that the welfare of egg laying hens is kept a priority in EU legislation and very much hopes that this amendment will be passed in next week's ENVI committee. For more information on Caroline's other animal welfare work please see her website at: www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk/category/animal-rights/.

Thank you again for writing to Caroline about this important issue and for your continued support for improved animal welfare standards.

Kind Regards,

Anya Whiteside

Office of Caroline Lucas MEP
Green Party MEP for South East England
The European Parliament
Rue Wiertz
Brussels 1047, Belgium
Brussels Tel: +32 2 284 5153 Fax: +32 2 284 9153
UK Tel: +44 207 407 6281 Fax: +44 207 234 0183

[Tarimoor_Art]

Just got an email from Linda McAvan

"Thank you for writing to me regarding the important issue of egg
labelling.

I am writing to update you on the latest situation following the vote,
which has now taken place.

I am pleased to say that the amendment you asked me to support, which
would mean that products containing eggs must be labelled with the terms
'Free range eggs', 'Barn eggs' or 'Eggs from caged hens' was passed in
the Environment Committee vote, which took place on Tuesday March 16.

The situation now is that the Environment Committee's recommendation
must be voted on by all MEPs in May at the first reading vote, and must
also be accepted by Member States in the Council of Ministers."