Table Egg Production and Hen Welfare: The UEP-HSUS Agreement and H.R. 3798. May 14, 2012.

摘要

The relationship between the livestock and poultry industries and animal protection groups is an antagonistic one, at best. The table egg industry, led in the United States by the United Egg Producers (UEP), has been widely criticized for decades for raising laying hens in cages. Many have argued that conventional cage systems widely used in the United States and elsewhere provide little or no welfare for laying hens because hens are not able to express natural behaviors. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is one of many animal protection organizations that has led campaigns advocating cage-free egg production and the elimination of all cages. Given the history between the egg industry and animal protection groups, UEP stunned the animal agriculture community in July 2011 with an announcement that it would work jointly with HSUS to push for federal legislation to regulate how U.S. table eggs are produced. The agreement between UEP and HSUS was signed July 7, 2011, and called for legislation that would set cage sizes, establish labeling requirements, and regulate other production practices. The goal of the agreement is to have federal legislation in place by June 30, 2012. As part of the agreement, HSUS agreed to immediately suspend state-level ballot initiative efforts in Oregon and Washington to end the use of conventional cages. On January 23, 2012, the Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2012 (H.R. 3798) was introduced in the House by Representative Schrader of Oregon and three cosponsors- Representatives Gallegly (CA), Farr (CA), and Denham (CA). The bill was referred to the House Committee on Agriculture and then to the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry. To date, no further action has been taken, but the legislation could be addressed in the context of the 2012 omnibus farm bill. UEP views the bill as being in the long-term interest and survival of American egg farmers, and a wide range of groups have expressed support for the legislation. However, some agricultural and livestock producers, including some egg farmers, have strongly opposed the bill, viewing it as an intrusion into their farming practices. Some animal protection groups also have opposed the bill. This report provides an overview of the U.S. egg industry, the UEP-HSUS agreement, and provisions of H.R. 3798. The report also discusses supporting and opposing views of the bill, and some animal welfare issues for laying hens.