Ukraine and Poland have overtaken the Netherlands and become the largest suppliers of eggs to the United Kingdom in 2025, which has drawn criticism toward the import of “cage” eggs, banned in the United Kingdom since 2012.

According to the UK’s Animal and Plant Health Agency, since the beginning of the year, Ukraine has exported 8 million kg of eggs to the country, Poland – nearly 7 million kg, and Spain – about 5 million kg.

Despite the overall decline in the tonnage of supplies, the number of shipments has increased – instead of large batches, numerous small batches from countries, where farms with cage bird keeping are still common, have begun to be exported.

Mark Williams, Chairman of the British Egg Industry Council, stated that British producers are at a disadvantage, as they have to invest in stricter bird keeping standards. At the same time, imported eggs from Ukraine and Poland are brought from systems banned in the UK. He called this “morally wrong” and urged the government to take measures to protect the domestic market.

Egg imports are most often directed to the public catering and food industry segments, rather than to supermarkets (where British eggs dominate). Estimates suggest that the UK produces about 88% of its own eggs, importing the remaining 12%.

The British government stated that it is involved in work on new regulations to level the playing field for domestic producers. At the same time, tariff exemptions for Ukraine were extended for many goods after the start of the war, but the “eggs and poultry” category received only a short-term deferral.

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