Brussels, 17/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - Not even nine hours of negotiations between the Parliament and the Council were enough. Final conciliation talks on the proposal for a revised regulation on novel foods broke up at 4.00am on Thursday 17 March, once again without agreement. Differences over cloned animals and their offspring - the only issue discussed - again proved to be intractable (see EUROPE 10327), much to the chagrin of Gianni Pittella (S&D, Italy), leader of the Parliament delegation, and MEP Kartika Liotard (GUE/NGL, Netherlands), rapporteur on this issue.
“The Parliament has made considerable efforts towards reaching a compromise but these were not mirrored by the Council. It is simply incredible that the Council, which consists of the same political parties as the Parliament, cannot agree to the Parliament position on the prohibition of food from cloned animals and their offspring. It is equally incredible that the Council is willing to turn a blind eye to public opinion, as well as the ethical and animal welfare problems associated with cloning”, they said in a joint statement.
The parties to the negotiations agreed to convene a further trialogue next week and a further conciliation meeting on 28 March - this is likely to be the last as the institutions have to respect the 29 March deadline for agreement. One thing is certain, however: there will only be agreement if the Council position comes more closely into line with the expectations of consumers, “77% of whom do not want cloned meat on their plates”, Liotard said. “If the position of the Council and Commission remains exclusively tied to commercial trade interests, the Parliament won't accept any deal”, the two MEPs warned. Their position is clear: no food from cloned animals must find its way onto the market, no food from the offspring of cloned animals must find its way onto the market, and the use of cloning technology for food production must be banned in the EU.
Why is the Commission against having traceability guaranteed through labelling of food from the offspring of cloned animals, a journalist asked on Thursday, surprised to see that, for the first time since the Maastricht Treaty (which brought in conciliation) came into force, the Commission has intervened to resist a Parliament-Council agreement which seemed within reach? “Meat and milk from cloned animals is not in any way different from traditional foods. The Commission wants a workable system. Under what conditions - over how many generations, on which animals - should such labelling be used. Discussions on traceability and consumer information will continue”, replied Frédéric Vincent, spokesman for Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner John Dalli. (A.N./transl.rt)