2120 final report.pdf - Agra CEAS Consulting

APPENDIX 1: MEMBER STATE REPORTSA1.14.4.3. Demand and supply elasticitiesWhilst there is no research on the elasticity of demand for eggs, the Swedish industry considers eggsto be a staple product and therefore relatively inelastic. The proven willingness of Swedishconsumers to pay a higher price for eggs produced under more animal welfare conditions supportsthis conclusion.A1.14.5. The impact of Directive 1999/74/ECA1.14.5.1. Implementation to dateSweden is a special case within the EU. Swedish legislation in this area has been driven from theanimal welfare point of view for some time and the government believes that both consumers andproducers are in agreement that animal welfare is important and worth paying for. Swedenannounced in 1988 that caged egg production would be banned with effect from 1998. However, inthe meantime Sweden joined the EU and enriched cages were ultimately permitted with a ban on thetraditional cage from January 2003. Implementation in Sweden is nearly complete, although sometraditional caged producers did take the Swedish government to court on the grounds that it hadfailed to notify Brussels of the legislation. Whilst this legal challenge was successful, the governmentthen notified Brussels correctly and, following the decision by the third and fourth largest retailers inSweden to stop stocking eggs from the traditional cage system by the end of 2004 137 and thestrengthening of the inspection system, it is expected that all production in traditional cages will haveceased by the beginning of 2005. The outcome from this is that Sweden has adopted the ban onunenriched cages in line with Chapter II, Art.5.2 of some years in advance of the rest of the EU andthus provides an illustration of what might happen in the wider EU.A1.14.5.2. Impact on the industryThe Swedish egg sector has one crucial advantage shared only by Finland, namely a ban on imports ofshell eggs from non-salmonella free countries in order to protect Sweden’s salmonella free status.Despite the fact that only Finland can export shell eggs to Sweden, these imports are an issue, notleast because many Finnish producers bought decommissioned Swedish cages and are now usingthese to produce eggs which undercut the former owners of the cages in Sweden.The competitive position of Finnish producers is further enhanced as a result of the EU accessionnegotiations where Finland was authorised to grant state aid to its egg producers during a transitionalperiod of five years (1995-1999). This transitional period has been prolonged to 2003 and again to2007.Whilst the shell egg sector therefore has a degree of protection, the Finns not withstanding, this isnot the case for the processed egg sector and domestic market share held by Swedish companies isdeclining. A significant issue here is that whilst Swedish consumers are willing to pay for animal137 The top two retailers had already taken this decision. Between them these four retailers account for 98-99% of the Swedish retailmarket.307