All eggs from flocks of laying hens not monitored for the presence of Salmonella or found positive to Salmonella Enteritidis or Salmonella Typhimurium, cannot be sold as table eggs but must be processed as egg products and pasteurised in order to remove all risks for consumers.
The new EU rules - that came into force on January 1 this year - are part of a drive to step up the fight against salmonella: these measures are expected to reduce significantly the number of human salmonellosis infections.
The measures will also apply to eggs imported from third countries which do not comply with the new EU regulations. Only Norway, Switzerland and Croatia have provided equivalent guarantees on the safety of their eggs. Therefore, only imports of table eggs from these countries will be authorised in the EU.
