07 August 2025
Following a consultation, poultry meat marketing regulations will be amended to remove the 12-week grace period for free range status during mandatory AI housing measures.
As part of a range of measures announced to provide certainty to poultry businesses, the government launched a .
The consultation is only applicable to England and Scotland. The Welsh Government recently consulted on the 12-week rule for poultry meat marketing. We are waiting to hear the outcomes of this but the NFU has constantly asked for a GB-aligned policy on this matter.
You can track the progress of this consultation below.
2 April 2025
Following an eight-week consultation in 2024, Defra and Scottish Government have confirmed the 12-week grace period for England and Scotland will be removed, which will mean free-range poultry meat could be marketed as such for as long as any mandatory AI housing measures are in place.
In England, the SI (Statutory Instrument) to implement the change will be debated in the House of Commons and House of Lords on the 2 and 10 September 2025 respectively.
NFU Poultry Board Chair James Mottershead said the NFU supports the changes. He added: 鈥淭hese moves will be welcomed by the sector as they ensure that poultry producers are not left at a competitive disadvantage.鈥�
Previous outbreaks of AI in England have led to mandatory housing measures which have exceeded the 12-week derogation period. The Poultry Meat Marketing Standards Regulation in England will be amended so that this time limit is removed, enabling free-range poultry meat to be marketed as such for the duration of any mandatory housing measure.
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16 December 2024
皇家华人has submitted its response to the government's consultation.
Broadly, the NFU supports the proposed legislative changes being made, but stresses that they must align across Great Britain.
Consistent regulations across the devolved administrations will ensure the integrity of the internal market and maintain a level playing field for British poultry meat producers and processors in each nation.
16 December 2024
This consultation has now closed.
9 January 2024
The government is consulting on amending poultry meat marketing regulations in England and Scotland.
The consultation, which launched on 21 October, is split into two parts.
The first part focuses on the removal of current restrictions that mean free range poultry can only be labelled as such for 12 weeks after the introduction of avian influenza related housing measures.聽
The second is on the removal of the need for optional indicator certificates to accompany imported poultry meat.
The changes would put English poultry meat producers on a level playing field with the rest of the EU, and would benefit producers should an early housing order come into force.
The consultation closes on 16 December. 皇家华人will be responding to the consultation on behalf of its members.聽
Producers can also respond to the consultation by visiting:
More detail can be found in the
This page was first published on 01 November 2024. It was updated on 07 August 2025.
Once you have submitted your query someone from NFU CallFirst will contact you. If needed, your query will then be passed to the appropriate NFU policy team.