Eggs and the EU

The Times reported Parliamentary Secretary Francis Agius as saying that the stamping of eggs had started in Malta last month, despite criticism that this would never happen.

Dr Agius made this announcement while visiting Sunrise Farm in Rabat with Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino to view new egg labelling machinery.

Dr Agius said the stamp assures Maltese consumers that the product they buy is a fresh one. Local eggs have the words MT on them and four numbers also stamped on them identify the farm where the eggs come from.

Dr Agius explained that the new system enables the authorities to trace eggs back to the chicken that laid it.

Meanwhile, Minister Pullicino added that the government helped farm owners with their restructuring, giving them Lm2.4 million within the framework of the Special Market Policy Programme for Maltese Agriculture.

The story of the Maltese egg is just one of many similar developments taking place in all the strata of Maltese society as EU law begins to be applied. Egg on your face is bad enough. But bad eggs in your stomach can kill you. Up to now Maltese consumers had been told that the stamping of local eggs to ensure traceability was unworkable in Malta.

The pundits have been proved wrong. The EU has indeed begun to affect our lives positively. People may still scoff at the fuss that the European Movement is making about stamping eggs. We assure everyone that we have no intention of giving free publicity to Francis and George.

However, when one considers similar steps being taken on many other fronts, such as the application of environmental, health and safety standards and consumer laws, one can see how we have in fact started on our slow track to the 21st century. Welcome to Europe, buddies.