Brussels, 02/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - In the evening of Wednesday 2 March, the European Parliament, Council of Ministers and Commission made a new attempt to reach agreement on the revised draft EU regulation on novel food (cloning and the like) but did not manage to get very far. The question of cloned animals and their offspring was, as usual, the main stumbling block at this sixth conciliation meeting between the three EU institutions (the second such meeting chaired by the Hungarian Presidency) on draft legislation unveiled in January 2008 (see EUROPE 10306).
The Council of Ministers made a small gesture to placate the EP and on behalf of the EU27, the Hungarian Presidency agreed that when the revised regulation comes into force, food made from cloned animals will be banned. The EP welcomed this as a necessary move but not sufficient in and of itself. It is still calling for food made from cloned animals or their offspring to be totally banned. The EP's delegation will meet on 9 March to prepare its response to the Council of Ministers' offer before the next (and final) conciliation meeting, scheduled for 16 March.
Gianni Pittella (S&D Italy), leader of the EP delegation in the negotiations, is concerned. “Time is running out to ensure we suspend the possibility of selling food from cloned animals or their descendants. We cannot solve all issues related to cloning immediately. Separate legislation will be needed in future. But we do need a legally sound solution in the interim. The European Parliament delegation to negotiations has proposed adding an article in the Novel Foods Regulation to state clearly that no food from cloned animals or their descendants shall be put on the market. I urge member states to recognise that it would be insufficient to ban food only from cloned animals”, he explained on Tuesday ahead of the conciliation meeting. Kartika Liotard (GUE/NGL, the Netherlands), rapporteur on this issue, points out that the EP's position “reflects the fact that a large majority of European citizens are opposed to animal cloning for food production. A ban limited to food from clones is almost meaningless as these animals are expensive to produce and of commercial interest only for breeding, not directly for meat or milk production. We need a clear legal solution to temporarily suspend production and sale of food from their descendants.”
No progress was made on the other issue discussed in the conciliation meeting, namely how to update the list of novel foods (by means of either a delegated act under Article 290 of the European Treaty or an implementing act under Article 291). (A.N./transl.fl)