SAA received the following news release:


NEWS RELEASE
>From the office of the South-East England’s Green MEP Caroline Lucas


June 24th, 2005



EU BATTERY CHICKEN WELFARE PROPOSALS ARE INADEQUATE, SAYS MEP

EU proposals to improve conditions for battery chickens ‘don’t go far
enough’, an MEP has warned.

Green Euro-MP Caroline Lucas says a planned new EU directive on the welfare
of broiler chickens falls short of implementing the recommendations of an EU
scientific committee on animal welfare and must be improved.

Dr Lucas, Green MEP for South-East England and a Vice-President of the Royal
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), said: “The
proposed directive falls well short of the recommendations of the Scientific
Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare (SCAHAW).

“The directive calls for a maximum density which SCAHAW reports will lead to
‘a steep rise in the frequency of serious welfare problems’, it says nothing
about farmers’ selection of fast-growing breeds, and it mandates an
inadequate level of lighting in battery chicken sheds.”

Her comments were made in a letter to Markos Kyprianou, the EU Commissioner
responsible for Health and Consumer Protection, demanding a rethink on the
proposals to bring them into line with SCAHAW recommendations.

The MEP, who is also Co-President of the European Parliament’s cross-party
group on Health and Consumer Protection, added: “Though some elements of the
proposed directive are commendable, such as its requirement for better
training, it falls well short of the standards demanded by animal rights
organisations and animal welfare experts.

“In answer to a previous written question I was told that any EU legislation
would take into account SCAHAW’s recommendations. The current proposals do
not deliver on this assurance and the draft must be improved immediately.”

ENDS


Editors’ Note: Copies of Dr Lucas’s letter to Commissioner Kyprianou are
available at
www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk or on request from Ben Duncan.

For more information please contact Ben on 01273 671946, 07973 823358 or
ben@...
www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk



Ben Duncan
Media Officer to Caroline Lucas MEP
benduncan@...
01273 671946 (office)
07973 823358 (mobile)



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