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1. An act of the Swedish Parliament was passed in 1988 which stated that hens kept for egg production purposes should not be housed in battery cages after 1 January 1999. This was in response to a public demand. Beak trimming is not permitted in Sweden.
2. Since 1988, investigations in Sweden, funded by both Government and industry, have been concentrated on how a ban on battery cages could be facilitated by the development of other systems of keeping hens, which, in particular, concentrated on a very high health status.
3. It has recently become clear that there will be difficulty in applying a rigid ban on battery cages in Sweden by 1 January 1999. It appears that the Swedish Government may allow farmers who maintain a very high health and welfare status in their caged birds to continue for a limited time. The Swedish work on alternative systems continues, concentrating on the main problems of cannibalism, hygiene and the quality of working environment. Work on the development of enriched cages is being pursued.
4. Thus the political decision of 1988 to ban battery cages by 1999 is likely to prove very difficult to achieve, mainly because of the continuing problems of alternative non-cage systems when beak trimming is not allowed. The Swedish egg production industry, which is at present approximately 90% in battery cages is very much at risk, as there is ready potential for eggs to be imported from neighbouring countries. This experience is relevant to the UK where we have similar continuing problems with the alternative systems to battery cages. FAWC members were grateful to the Swedish authorities and research workers for their invaluable help in explaining the background to the current position in their country.