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And UK animal welfare minister Elliot Morley said he wanted to see if there was a case for banning "enriched" cages in the UK.

Competition

Mr Morley said: "The UK Government has worked hard to push for barren battery cages to be banned and I welcome the directive and the new implementing regulations.

"But I am not convinced enriched cages have any real advantages over conventional barren cages.

Elliot Morley is concerned about animal welfare

"I want to hear people's views on the subject to see if the UK should follow Germany and ban enriched cages too."

But Mr Morley told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It won't do any good banning battery cages in the UK if other countries, competitive countries, carry on with them.

"The reason why we want to end battery cages is because we have concerns about the welfare of birds within them and whether they meet all the welfare considerations we would expect any intensive rearing system to do."

Import fears

Animal welfare groups such as the RSPCA and Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) have criticised enriched cages as little better than battery conditions.

CIWF says on its website: "So-called 'enriched cages' will offer very few welfare benefits considering that hens will still be caged in a small space."

Andrew Joret, of the British Egg Industry Council, said market research suggested that while consumers would like to see battery cages banned, this was not reflected in their purchasing decisions.

Banning enriched cages in Britain might lead to more battery eggs being imported, he argued.

Beak trimming

"We believe those eggs will still be consumed by a section of the population. The question is whether we will produce them here, at home, or whether we will import them," he told Today.

Mr Morley said he also wants to phase out beak trimming, where the tips of hens beaks are sliced off.

This will be allowed under the EU directive to continue until the end of 2010, because of welfare concerns about feather pecking and cannibalism.

Mr Morley said: "I am confident this can be phased out, through improved management and, in particular, breeding."

Supermarket bans

An estimated 24 million egg-laying chickens are kept in battery cages in the UK at any one time, producing 72% of the country's supplies.

Several supermarkets - including Waitrose and Marks & Spencer - have already banned battery-produced eggs.

The new regulations apply only in England; similar legislation is being drawn up in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The rules apply only to egg-laying hens - guidelines on meat and breeding birds are due shortly.

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