The Council of Agriculture should immediately ban the use of battery cages for egg-laying ducks and other animals, the Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST) said on Monday.
The organization held a news conference in front of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei to call attention to the practice, which many farmers use for its convenience and low cost.
A video played by EAST showed ducks with bloodied feet due to long hours of standing on battery cage wire.
Photo: CNA
The practice has hindered the export of duck eggs to EU countries and, with it, the development of the industry, the organization said.
Most duck farmers in Taiwan have adopted cage-free methods, but some still use battery cages that are only as big as an A4 piece of paper and restrict access to water, EAST researcher Tsun Fang-chu (寸舫筑) said.
The EU in 2012 banned the use of battery cages for egg-laying chickens, while a European Citizens’ Initiative last year to end battery-cage farming garnered a record number of signatories, Tsun said.
More than half of the nation’s exported duck eggs go to the US, although California — the state with the highest ethnic Chinese population — is set to ban the production and sale of eggs produced using battery cage farming from 2022, he said.
This means Taiwan’s duck farmers only have one year to transform the industry, Tsun added.
There are only 20 duck egg farms that still utilize cages, accounting for less than 10 percent of the industry, said Lee Yi-chien (李宜謙), head of the council’s poultry farming section.
The council a few years ago assembled a team of experts to help farms assess and improve their facilities, and in 2018 published a manual to explain best practices and how to establish a cage-free environment, Lee said.
As the farms are the livelihood of many people, the government cannot just order them closed, Lee said, adding that the council is instead providing guidance and low-interest loans to help farmers transition to cage-free facilities.
Each farm is eligible for a subsidy of NT$1 million (US$34,334) and five have already taken advantage of the program, Lee said.
The council plans to phase out cages at the facilities within five years, he added.
New Power Party Legislator Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) said that the time frame is too long, adding that the goal could be achieved within a year.
Chen urged the council to raise the subsidy amount.
Cage farming is on its way out, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hung Shen-han (洪申翰) said.
The council should discuss the situation at each of the 20 farms with industry actors, then convene a meeting to decide how to conform to international market trends to resolve the matter as quickly as possible, Hung said.
With government assistance and free access to information, battery cage farming can soon be a thing of the past, he added.
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