French govt. convenes crisis meeting over falling egg prices

The French government is to convene a crisis meeting at the start of the week over ongoing protests by farmers at falling egg prices.

A group of some 20 poultry producers in Brittany have dumped hundreds of thousands of eggs, including outside tax offices, in recent days.

The farmers blame the low prices on excess supply, and are calling on the state, which regulates the egg market, to lower production quotas by 5 per cent.

On Friday night an estimated 1,40,000 eggs were smashed on the streets of Saint Brieuc, the regional Ouest-France newspaper reported.

On Thursday, farmers dumped around 1,00,000 eggs.

The Agriculture Ministry in Paris has said it will discuss the issue early next week, but farmers have vowed to continue the protest.