Lawyer: Estonia's battery hen ban could backfire

Attorney-at-law and former Chancellor of Justice Allar Jõks has criticized a Ministry of Regional Affairs bill which would ban battery hen farming in Estonia, arguing it will harm purchasing power, business competitiveness, and is in any case hypocritical.
According to Jõks, the bill is typical of Estonian legislation, whereby there is a need to impress "someone" is given greater importance than the well-being of Estonian citizens.
Appearing on Thursday's edition of "Esimene stuudio," Jõks said: "It seems a bit hypocritical to me."
"The claim that this is being done for the sake of animal welfare, is a highly worthy aim. I believe that most, if not all, Estonians support animal welfare, and whenever free-range eggs are available in stores, I always buy them."
However, the law could harm security of food supply in Estonia, and a basic foodstuff at that, Jõks went on.
"Can Estonia supply itself with eggs if, for example, we can no longer import them? The answer was no," Jõks went on, adding that competitiveness in the sector would also worsen.
Estonians' purchasing power would also decrease," the former justice chancellor said.

"And when I read what the most significant factor was, that it was under the section on foreign relations: 'With this, we are trailblazers and set a good example for other EU member states … "I must say, what I read was completely out of this world," Jõks went on, referring to the bill.
"Our neighbors Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, where we import most of our eggs from, do not have such a ban," he said, and neither is there an EU-wide ban.
This means that battery hen-laid eggs would continue to be imported into Estonia in any case, Jõks argued, while if that were no longer the case it could be for the worst of reasons, i.e. that supply had been cut off.
At the same time, it could play into the hands of egg farmers south of the border.
"My colleagues in Latvia and Lithuania told me that their farmers are already rubbing their hands, thinking they might be able to increase production capacity," Jõks noted.
The ministry bill if it passes a Riigikogu vote will ban battery hen farming in Estonia from 2035.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Aleksander Krjukov
Source: 'Esimene stuudio'