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2120 final report.pdf - Agra CEAS Consulting

2120 final report.pdf - Agra CEAS Consulting

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THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF THE VARIOUS SYSTEMS TO KEEP LAYING HENSfrom Sweden as a result of their early implementation. The use of Swedish cages is not consideredhelpful in terms of implementing the Directive by the industry and is not a strategy, rather simply theindividual decisions of certain producers.A1.4.5.3. Impact on the industryOne of the most likely impacts of the Directive is expected to be further pressure to continue therestructuring that is already taking place. A significant reduction in the number of egg producers (to300 to 350 from more than a thousand) and an increase in the average number of laying hens perflock is expected. This process will be assisted through Article 141 and Article 142 of Finland’s EUAccession Treaty which allows some national aid 73 . Whilst Article 142, concerning Nordic regions, isconsidered to be a permanent fixture by both the Finnish government and the EU Commission,Article 141 is not and is renegotiated periodically. The latest incarnation is implemented from thebeginning of 2004 to the end of 2007 (aid will be available from Spring 2004 assuming that the EUgives its approval). Under Article 141 the Finnish government pays both investment aid (50% of totalinvestment cost, 60% for young farmers and more where the investment is to improve animalwelfare) and aid on a per hen basis to producers. This has been a very useful mechanism for assistingthe restructuring in the sector.Under the latest incarnation of Article 141 a greater emphasis has been placed on the investmentcomponent of the support and less on the support per hen. Support per hen is currently decliningyear on year and is not in any case sufficient to compensate for the higher production costsexperienced under alternative systems. It may be the case in future that the support per hen will bedifferentiated according to production system to assist the transition from traditional cages. Thesituation will be assessed in a few years time to see if such a change is necessary.There is thought to be considerable interest in aviary systems 74 amongst producers using traditionalcages, but little investment to date. However, some respondents felt that there is currently lessinterest in enriched cages (although others disagreed). This might be the result of the investments inSwedish traditional cages which has allowed some producers to defer further investment decisionsuntil nearer 2012. Despite the producer interest in aviary systems from a technical point of view, itis not felt that there is sufficient consumer demand for eggs from alternative systems to prompt anysignificant expansion of this sector, not least because of the current level of premium (around 50% ofcaged egg prices).As long as Finland maintains salmonella-free status there is little concern that imports of shell eggswill threaten the domestic industry (only Sweden is currently able to export shell eggs to Finland).However, as far as the processing sector is concerned, any increase in egg production cost resultingfrom the implementation of the Directive is likely to have an impact on the price of second quality73Further details on national aid can be found in Työryhmämuistio MMM 2003:14 Kananmunien tuotantostrategia: Uusiintuotantomuotoihin siirtyminen vuonna 2012 Loppuraportti Helsinki 2003.74 A barn or perchery system that is sold under the deep litter marketing label.159

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