 On 7 December 2012, as part of a new welfare code for the poultry industry, the New Zealandic government implemented a ban on the construction of new battery cages, and initiated a 10-year phaseout of all battery cages in the country by 2022.As an intermediate goal, 45% of battery cages were to be removed by 2018.In April 2010, the Norwegian grocery chain Rema 1000 decided to stop selling eggs from both battery and furnished cage hens by the year 2012, to coincide with the scheduled EU-wide prohibition on battery cages.