An agreement has been reached in the US in which both the United Egg Producers (UEP) and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) will endorse federal legislation aimed at improving the treatment of all the 280 million laying hens used in the US each year.
The talks were triggered by two Initiatives announced by the HSUS, which would probably have seen voters in Washington State and Oregon endorse a ban on battery cages and on the sale of eggs laid by birds kept in battery cages.
You can find more information in an article from the New York Times.
An HSUS summary of the Agreement is available online
