Despite the repeated requests to the Italian government to concretely apply the ban on the suppression of male chicks in the egg industry, the situation remains stalled. The Ministry of Agriculture, food sovereignty and forests (Masaf) has communicated to the Parliament that the process of implementing the law is underway, but to support the technological transition of companies.
The regulatory reference is clear: Starting from 31 December 2026 the ban on the systematic reduction of male chicks will come into forceas required by law no. 53 of 21 April 2023 (article 3, paragraph 1). The rule requires the incubators to equip themselves with technologies capable of identifying the sex of the embryo before hatching the egg. But to date there are still the implementing decrees that would make the provision operational.
To raise the problem in Parliament it was, last March, Mr Eleonora Eviwith a question aimed at Masaf to obtain clarifications both on the methods of economic support for the incubatii, and on the times envisaged for the implementation of the standard. In response, Undersecretary Luigi D’Eramo reiterated the government’s commitment, underlining that “This is a fundamental step for the protection of animal welfare“.
But, to date, no concrete information has been provided on available resources, on intervention times or on the implementation methods.
Al technical table With the main trade associations to evaluate the feasibility of the technological transition, one of the main obstacles that emerged would have been the need for structural interventions in the incubatii, which often do not have sufficient spaces for the installation of the new embryonic selection systems. Yet, they underline from Animal Equality, these technologies are already operational in countries such as Germanywhere industrial structures do not differ significantly from the Italian ones.
As for the fundingThe Undersecretary spoke of an ongoing interlocution with the Ministry of Companies and Made in Italy and the Ministry of Health, without however providing details on any funds or concrete economic measures.
Statements that do not convince Matteo Cupiexecutive director of Animal Equality Italy, who denounces: the Ministry’s response is full of gaps and free of transparency. We still do not know what funds will be allocated or how the government intends to respect deadlines. Every year in Italy they are killed about 30 million male chicks: without a real implementation of the ban, this massacre risks continuing even after 2026.
The fear of animal rights activists is founded: without clear and binding measures, the concrete risk is that the prohibition turns into another rule disregardedvictim of extensions and delays. And to pay the price, as always, the animals will be.
