The Government of France will soon issue a draft regulation that will end killing of cockerel chicks.  The Ministry of Agriculture will provide financial support to companies to install equipment for gender determination.  France and Germany are taking the initiative in banning destruction of cockerels.  The ban in Germany will take effect at the beginning of 2022 and will prohibit termination of incubation from the seventh day onwards.

It would appear that legislators are ahead of technology since existing procedures that show promise under laboratory and pilot conditions have not been evaluated commercially in large hatcheries at speeds that are consistent with industry practice.  A joint Dutch and German approach using PCR assay of hormones in emryonic fluids is 98 percent accurate, but only on the ninth day of incubation.  There is no indication of the cost of gender determination, but in the EU it will be possible to pass on the additional expense to consumers.

If adopted in the E.U. and the U.K producers will most certainly impose restrictions on U.S. exporters of shell eggs and possibly liquids to attain equivalence as a trade protective measure.