Paice accused of gold-plating broiler rules

Mr Bourns said he has been told by Defra, the Department is opting for a stocking density of 39 kg of birds per square metre in England.

The Directive allows for 42kg of birds per square metre, the figure adopted by Northern Ireland, which is home to some of the UK’s biggest poultry producers, according to Mr Bourns.

Mr Bourns said the difference between the two stocking densities represented an extra £100,000 of profit for a 50,000-bird unit.

“Jim Paice came in pledging that he was not going to gold-plate EU rules but the first thing he has done in the poultry sector is gold-plate this Directive. What is annoying is that this has distorted the market and has put English producers at a competitive disadvantage against producers from elsewhere in the UK,” he told the NFU council on Tuesday.

One of the arguments against the move to 42/kg per square metre in England was that the Red Tractor requires a maximum stocking density of 38/kg per square metre. Mr Bourns said the English poultry industry would now seek to promote the lower stocking density through the scheme.

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