Mr Martin said: "Fatty liver paté is obtained by force-feeding geese and ducks and is already banned in many EU countries.
“The process makes the poor animals’ livers expand to up to ten times the normal size. We are petitioning for this cruel and obscene practice to be banned throughout the whole of the EU” Co-sponsor of the petition, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), say that the force-feeding involves ramming pipes down the throats of ducks and geese three times a day, and pumping up to four pounds of grain and fat into their stomachs.
The petition calls for the practice to be banned in the five remaining countries where it is still legal - Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Hungary and Spain.
Signatures were collected by four animal rights groups and delivered by Mr Martin along with fellow MEPs, Germany's Stefan Eck, and Anja Hazekamp from the Netherlands.
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