Finland proposes EU broiler stocking density level

Earlier in the year, the European Commission suggested a stocking density of 30kg per square metre, which resulted in heated debate among EU members. 

The Finnish proposal of 38kg per square metre could be based on a total farm average (with a maximum of 40kg/sqm permitted) or member states could opt for an absolute maximum of 38kg per square metre. Further research in the future could also warrant an adjustment in these figures, government sources said.

Finland aims to implement the new rule in 2008, but will wait until 2012 to set the new maximum density levels.

According to rumours in Brussels, the Germans intend to support the Finnish proposal. But a spokesman for the Dutch Product Board for Poultry and Eggs (PPE) said that a final decision on stocking density levels should be delayed until the expected further research is conducted, if maximum density levels are to be set in 2012.

There is no current legislated maximum level for broiler stocking density in the EU, although the subject has been a matter of debate in Brussels for many years. Current estimates suggest that stocking densities in the EU-25 (although varying widely) average at 40kg of bird weight per square metre.