We are now trading in a world market and it is vital we are aware of the chicken meat production systems and ethics employed in other European and third world countries. All these countries have generally a lower cost of production than the United Kingdom. The strength of the United Kingdom industry is the level of efficiency and biological performance and we must be careful not to load excessive additional cost onto our industry by the introduction of onerous welfare legislation. One of the major points of difference between the United Kingdom and the rest of the world is that of stocking density. In the United Kingdom stocking density is laid down in the ‘Codes of Recommendations for the Welfare of Livestock — Domestic Fowls’. The pace of change within the industry has made this single figure approach obsolete. Industry bodies, such as the British Poultry Meat Federation and the National Farmers' Union, have an important rôle in representing producers' views to Government and consumers. We need more concentration and funding on research and finding solutions, and less on ever more ways of measuring problems.