December 16, 2004

Scotland's Farmers at Risk of Being Out of Business

Scottish farmers are reportedly at risk of being put out of business by a flood of cheap Latin American egg imports. The European Union has approved the lifting of tariffs on imports from countries like Brazil, thereby leaving farmers fearful of their future.

Years of increasingly stringent regulations have ensured Scotland is among the most humane poultry farms in the world.

But the same measures do not apply to farmers in Latin America who are about to be allowed to flood the UK market with cheap eggs. UK farmers are angry at the European Union for reducing the tariffs on imports.

Conventional egg production will be outlawed in 2012 in the UK, with battery hen farming being phased out. But the same stringent rules will not apply to imports into the UK, meaning foreign farmers can produce their eggs cheaper than their British counterparts.

The National Farmers Union believes that many of their members will struggle to stay in business. But Scottish consumers won't even be able to vote with their purses to help farmers by only buying local produce, as most of the imports will be going straight into the food we eat.

The MEP and his fellow British politicians hope that they can persuade the EU to introduce compulsory labeling so Scottish consumers know exactly where the boiled egg they tuck into for breakfast started out.