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Written question asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour) on Wednesday, 23 November 2022, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 7 December 2022. It was answered by Lord Benyon (Conservative) on Thursday, 19 January 2023 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.


Eggs

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect UK egg producers from being undercut by imported eggs owing to higher feed and energy costs in the UK.

Answer

Defra is carefully monitoring levels of imports through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group, which monitors UK agricultural markets including price, supply, inputs, trade, and recent developments. Domestic production of eggs provides around 85% to 90% of home use and last year accounted for 92% of eggs used domestically


Despite the recent tightening of the egg market which is mainly the result of the war in Ukraine and a global increase in input costs for feed and energy, the supply chain is robust and we believe there remains sufficient supplies of eggs to meet consumer demand. We are not currently seeing any dramatic increases in the import of eggs. Increases in the price of eggs can also be seen impacting countries across the European Union.


The UK egg industry operates in an open market and the value of egg commodities, including the farm gate egg price, is established by those in the supply chain including farmers, processors, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers. We are working closely with all stakeholders within the supply chain on how they might reduce short-term disruption to consumers. The Minister for Food and Farming recently hosted an egg industry roundtable with representatives from across the UK egg supply chain, to consider the challenges currently facing the industry.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL3705
Session
2022-23
Subjects
Costs Animal feed Energy Eggs Imports Prices
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk