Food and drink

Eggs and poultry

Hatching eggs and chicks regulations

EC regulation

Council Regulation (EEC) No 2782/75 and Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1868/77 (both as amended) lay down rules on the production and marketing of poultry eggs for hatching and farmyard poultry chicks as provided for under the Common Organisation of the Egg Market and the common organisation of the poultrymeat market.

The Regulations cover the following:

  • eggs for hatching (including domestic fowl, turkeys, ducks, geese and guinea fowl) under Customs Nomenclature Chapter 0407 0011 & 0407 0019
  • chicks under Customs Nomenclature Chapter 0105 11, 0105 12 & 0105 19. These include utility chicks (table type chicks, laying chicks and dual purpose chicks); and parent and grandparent stock.

The Regulations also cover:

The texts of the Regulations are available on the Europa website.

UK legislation

The EC legislation is directly applicable and is executed and enforced in Great Britain through the Eggs (Marketing Standards) Regulations 1995 (Statutory Instrument 1995 No. 1544). The full text of these Regulations is available on the HMSO website. This Statutory Instrument also implements the Marketing Standards for Eggs in Great Britain. Statutory Instruments 1996 No 1665 and 1998 No 1665 amended the original Statutory Instrument, but they did not introduce any changes to the hatching eggs and chick rules.

The Eggs (Marketing Standards) Regulations 1995 were introduced into UK law under the Food Safety Act 1990. The full text of the Food Safety Act 1990 is available on the HMSO website.

Guidance

These Regulations are enforced by the Egg Marketing Inspectorate.

The requirements of the Regulations are outlined in the Explanatory Leaflet on the Regulations relating to the Production & Marketing of Hatching Eggs & Poultry Chicks (EMR9).

Page last modified: 9 August 2002

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs