Brussels, 15/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission will, on Tuesday 19 October, propose a five-year ban on animal cloning for human foodstuffs. The Commission's aim in this, a source said, is a Europe-wide ban on “commercial practices which seek to clone animals for meat or milk production”.
Cloning will not, however, be outlawed in the EU when it is for research purposes in medicines and insemination methods for the protection of endangered species. “Cloned animals should not be eaten. A cloned animal is a research animal which is very costly and which is for researchers, not butchers.” The Commission is moving to calm the fears raised this summer by the sale of cloned animal meat in the United Kingdom.
Imports of cloned animals will not be banned, as this would contravene WTO rules. The Commission wants talks with member states, however, on the traceability of semen and embryos. Anyone importing cloned animal semen, particularly from the United States (where the technique exists), must be able to ensure the traceability of offspring. This affects between 2 and 3% of the semen used in the EU, Commission experts say seeking to give reassurance. Of the semen or embryos used in the EU to inseminate animals 97-98% comes from the EU. “Therefore, there is no semen from clones in the EU and there won't be in future because we're going to ban it.”
Cloning is a controversial issue which has brought negotiations on the regulation on novel foods between the Council and Parliament to a halt. A trialogue meeting between the Council, Parliament and Commission will take place in Strasbourg on Tuesday 19 October to discuss this matter. European Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner John Dalli's staff have also brought forward the date of the presentation of the communication and report on cloning of farmed animals, to help find a compromise among the institutions on the novel foods regulation. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) takes the view that meat or milk from the offspring of cloned animals do not represent any threat to human health. Marketing of meat and milk from first generation cloned animals is subject to prior authorisation in the EU. So far, no one has requested permission in Europe. EFSA acknowledges that mortality rates and the number of animals born with abnormalities are higher among cloned animals that among those born of natural reproduction. (L.C./transl.rt)