Poultry is an important part of the European economy; in 2012 the EU-27 produced 12.9 million tonnes of poultry meat, employed an estimated 303,000 people and had a production value of €32 billion¹.

The UK market is second only to France in terms of EU production of poultry meat. The British Poultry Council calls on all candidates to take forward 12 priorities over four key themes into the next parliamentary term.

• Food Quality - Safeguard consumer confidence in food quality by defending hygiene standards, undertake microbiological inspections and ensure better labelling.
• Sustainable Production - Be a champion for intensive poultry production, support its development and promote Genetically Modified technology and the responsible use of feed.
• Animal Health and Welfare - Continue to lead on promoting animal welfare in other countries, implement risk based regulation and support self-regulation for compliant companies.
• EU and the Global Marketplace – support market access to enable exports of poultry meat, review and where possible reduce the cost of regulation on the industry and insist that foreign imports meet the standards set by EU products.

¹ Competitiveness of the EU Poultry Meat Sector Report http://www.avec-poultry.eu/communications-position-papers Page 10