Brussels, 19/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - European consumers may rest assured. They will not be finding cloned meat on their plate or milk in their cups from legally cloned animals. The European Commission plans to recommend to Parliament and Council a temporary suspension of animal cloning for food production in Europe, exclusively for animal welfare concerns - the only reasons that are of concern to EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) scientists. Expected, this Commission intention which is to be the subject of a proposal during 2011, was confirmed in a communication adopted Tuesday 19 October. The compromise found on this complex problem with a highly ethical dimension allowed the text to be adopted without debate within the college of commissioners (written procedure - see EUROPE 10237). “The communication adopted today is a response to calls from the Parliament and member states to launch a specific European Union policy on this sensitive issue”, said John Dalli, the European consumer for health and consumer policy.
The temporary suspension measure on the cloning of farm animals for food production will not prohibit the continuation of animal cloning for research purposes or for artificial reproduction to produce medicines or safeguard animal species threatened with extinction. The Commission also provides a five year moratorium on the use of cloned farm animals and the marking of food products from cloned animals. On the other hand, reproductive material (semen and embryos) may be imported in full legality, but in time these will come under an obligation of traceability. In other terms, if the embryo is a clone itself, there will be a ban on importing it, but if this embryo is that of a cloned cow, then importation will be authorised as the descendant will be the first generation descendant of a cloned animal. Race horses or fighting bulls or even fairground animals will not be concerned by the moratorium as they are not used for food production.
Is it not hypocritical on one side to refuse animal cloning for food and, on the other, to accept products from animals that have suffered? The Commission's answer to this is “no”, as the EU cannot impose best practice unilaterally on third countries. A unilateral ban is not possible but the question could possibly be raised at the international organisation for animal welfare, concedes Frédéric Vincent, the spokesman for Commissioner Dalli. A five-year suspension will allow cloning techniques to be improved to remedy the suffering and anomalies noted in the first weeks of life of cloned animals, and provide sufficient distance to re-examine the relevance of the moratorium. The Commission takes the view that the proposal is compatible with WTO rules as it is proportionate and justified, unlike a total ban on imports.
A necessary but insufficient step. Will this be enough to unblock the proposal aimed at updating and replacing the European regulation of 1997 (258/97) on novel foods? This is currently deadlocked in Council and Parliament, the latter being fiercely opposed to legalising application of cloning that is not lawful in the EU, but which is authorised in certain third countries such as the United States, Argentina and Brazil.
The European Commission very much hopes this will be the case and does not hesitate to say so. “We believe the announcement of this proposal will bring adoption of the regulation out of deadlock. The Parliament wanted total ban on cloning of animals and of their offspring used for food production”, an expert from the Commission's DG SANCO told the European press. This conciliatory signal was deliberately sent out the day after a first informal Parliament/presidency/Commission trilogue on the novel food regulation. The beginnings of an answer immediately came from Strasbourg. Gianni Pittella (S&D, Italian), who heads the delegation of the Parliament in conciliation negotiation about to begin officially welcomed the moratorium as a first, necessary step towards a satisfactory solution - albeit an insufficient step.
Pittella said: “MEPs support the introduction of a moratorium - as soon as possible - to guarantee consumer protection in this sector. However, there are critical differences in our positions, notably on Parliament's demand to prevent the sale of food not only from clones themselves but also from their offspring and further descendants. Parliament is also determined to ensure proper safety checks and labelling for foods produced with the aid of nanotechnology”.
Kartika Liotard (GUE/NGL, NL), who is rapporteur on the novel food regulation, welcomes the fact that the Commission “is at last proposing a moratorium on food from clones. This shows that the Commission has taken into consideration animal welfare, the environment and ethics, and not just trade pressures”. She went on to point out, however, that “we also need a solution for the time before a moratorium can enter into force”, and considers allowing trade in food products from offspring of clones would mean closing one's eyes to animal welfare. Denmark is the only EU member state to ban the use of cloning for commercial ends on its territory. (A.N./transl.jl)