Eggs can continue to be labelled ‘free-range’ for 16 weeks and poultry meat for 12 weeks, says Defra
Millions of free-range hens and other birds will have to be kept indoors from 14 December, in a national government crackdown to try to limit the spread of a virulent strain of avian flu across Great Britain.
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) said in a statement that the chief vets of England, Scotland and Wales had agreed the new legal requirement for all birdkeepers to bring their flocks indoors, to keep them separate from potentially infectious wild birds.
