Angry animal welfare body, Humane Society International, (HSI), is accusing the federal government of “colluding with the industrial egg industry” to draw up the newly launched standards for free-range eggs.
HSI says the maximum stocking capacity cap of 10,000 hens a hectare falls far short of consumer expectations for genuine free-range egg production.
It also warned consumers the new standard could not be trusted.
"The industrial egg industry and big retailers have won and consumers and hens have lost out,” said campaigns head for HSI Nicola Beynon.
Federal Small Business Minister, Michael McCormack, has confirmed the long-awaited egg labelling and stocking rate information standards saying shoppers now had information they needed to make informed choices when buying free-range eggs.
The new information standard, registered under Australian consumer law, requires eggs labelled as free-range to have been laid by hens with meaningful and regular access to the outdoors and with an outdoor stocking density of 10,000 hens a hectare, or fewer.
“The stocking density will need to be prominently displayed on the packaging to allow easy comparison between different eggs on supermarket shelves,” Mr McCormack said.
Egg producers applauded the move as “a win for consumers, a win for farmers and a win for chooks”.
“After years of uncertainty, farmers will have the confidence to invest in new free-range farming facilities and technologies,” said Egg Farmers of Australia chief executive officer, John Dunn.
But HSI said the standard was a huge blow to consumers because egg farmers with 10,000 chooks/ha could label products as free-range when they were laid in what it regarded as intensive systems.
“It is also in stark contrast with international standards for free-range,” Ms Beynon said.
“The RSPCA recommends 1500/ha for fixed free range systems and 2500/ha is normally the highest density in a free range system anywhere in the world.
“The government's new standard of a staggering 10,000 hens per hectare surely takes the record as the most out of touch with consumer expectations.”
“Consumers who want to do the right thing by the hens that lay their eggs cannot trust the new label and confusion will continue.”
HSI argued the surveys and submissions showed 95 per cent of consumers supported a free-range stocking density of 1500/ha or fewer.
However, Mr McCormack said while some stakeholders argued for a lower stocking density cap, his decision took into into consideration the views of consumers, advocacy groups and industry.
“It provides a sensible balance with a focus on informing consumers – so they can make a choice that’s right for their needs,” he said.
The new standard was settled after many months of consultation with industry and consumer groups, including hundreds of submissions received during public consultations.
“Eggs are a staple ingredient in the average family’s weekly grocery basket,” Mr McCormack said.
“Prices widely vary depending on a number of factors including the use of a free-range label.
Egg Farmers of Australia welcomed finalisation of the free-range labelling standard saying it would bring simplicity and clarity to the term free-range.
It would also ensure consumers choosing to buy free range knew exactly what they were getting.
“It's never easy to legislate around a farming system, but EFA worked hard to ensure that all consumer affairs ministers visited a free-range farm in deliberating on the definition,” Mr Dunn said.
“We've also worked hard to bring greater transparency to the industry and the formalisation of this standard is recognition of that work.”
He said hens would be freely able to be outside if they wanted to and the requirement for stocking density information on egg cartons would empower any farmers who wanted to differentiate their farms as running much lower stocking rates than the 10,000/ha maximum.
“We thank all state consumer affairs ministers for their work and deliberation in agreeing to this standard and the federal government leadership in tackling this issue,” he said.
However Ms Beynon believed the genuine free-range egg industry had been let down.
“True free-range producers have set up their businesses under the 1500 hens/ha standard recommended in Australia's Model Code of Practice for Poultry which has been in place since 2002,” she said.
“This new standard will undercut their efforts to provide a genuine free-range egg to the market.
"The government put the interests of big business before small free-range businesses, animal welfare and consumers.”