January 30, 2013

Germany, France and Spain are facing possible legal actions over their failure to fulfill a January deadline to impose new EU animal welfare rules.

A quarter of the bloc's 12 million sows are still being kept on farms where individual cages - known as sow stalls - remain in use, despite being banned from the start of this year.

The level of compliance is particularly poor among large producers in France, according to data submitted by governments to the European Commission, EU sources said.

The Commission is preparing legal action against countries that have yet to meet the deadline, with a formal announcement expected next month.

Last year, the Commission banned the export of eggs from producers who failed to meet a January 1, 2012 ban on battery cages. However, the difficulty in tracing pork meat back to individual producers, especially in processed products such as salami or chorizo, makes a similar ban impossible, officials said.

While some producers say the cages reduce aggression between sows, animal welfare campaigners say the cages - so restrictive that the sow cannot turn around - cause psychological damage.

The EU ban was first agreed in 2001. Britain has had a ban in place since 1999.