Press Release: Commissioner Kyprianou welcomes Council agreement on animal welfare rules for broilers

Markos Kyprianou, European Commissioner for Health, has welcomed the Council's 8 May 2007 political agreement on new rules to improve the welfare of chickens kept for meat production (broilers). The Directive aims to reduce the overcrowding of chickens, by setting a maximum stocking density of 33kg/m2, or 39kg/m2 if stricter welfare standards are met. The new legislation also lays down a number of other conditions to ensure better animal welfare, such as lighting, litter, feeding, and ventilation requirements. The Directive also provides for the Commission to possibly introduce further measures in the future, based on the scientific data and practical evidence collected by the Member States. The Council also adopted conclusions on animal welfare labelling and the Commission will now carefully study this issue and report on the various options.