Cloning of farm animals could soon be banned under draft laws proposed by the European Commission.
Currently, the marketing of food from clones requires pre-approval under the Novel Food Regulation based on an assessment carried out by the European Food Safety Authority but to date, no EU or non-EU applications have been made to market food from clones.
The new proposals would seek to go further by actually banning the cloning of animals for farming purposes and the marketing of food from animal clones in the EU.
Imports of cloned animals into the EU would also be prohibited as long as animal welfare concerns persist.
“Today’s initiatives on animal cloning respond to animal welfare concerns as well as consumer perception on food from animal clones in a realistic and workable way,” said EU Commissioner for health, Tonio Borg.
However, the Commission has been criticised for failing to go far enough, as the legislation would still allow the marketing of products in the EU from the offspring of cloned animals.
Compassion in World Farming called the Commission’s legislation a “cynical proposal designed to fool the public into thinking the Commission is tackling cloning.”
“In fact, it will be allowing the offspring of clones to be used in EU farming and insisting that consumers will have to swallow meat and milk from the offspring of clones. This food won’t even be labelled,” said Peter Stevenson, Compassion in World Farming’s chief policy advisor.
The proposals were a backward step from two years ago when the Commission was planning to require food from the offspring of clones to be labelled as such, he added.
Cloning would not be prohibited for the purposes of research, conservation of rare breeds and endangered species, or the use of animals for production of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, the Commission said in a statement issued today.
The European Parliament and the Council will now consider the draft legislation before adopting their respective positions.
The proposed legislation would enter into force in 2016 at the earliest, the Commission forecast.
The Commission has also adopted draft legislation to amend the current Novel Food Regulation, to improve access for new and innovative food to enter the EU.
“The changes on novel food will create a more efficient system. It will offer EU consumers the benefit of a broad choice of foodstuffs and provides a favourable environment for Europe’s food industry,” Borg added.
The Commission claims the novel food legislation will create a simpler, clearer and more efficient authorisation procedure which should allow “safe and innovative food to reach the EU market faster.”
In general, a food is regarded as a novel food if it was not consumed in the EU to a significant degree before May 1997.
The issue of cloning flared up in 2010 when the Food Standards Agency announced that the meat from the offspring of a cloned cow had entered the food chain in 2009.
A 2008 EFSA risk assessment found no difference in food safety between meat and milk of clones and their offspring compared to that from conventionally bred animals. EFSA subsequently confirmed its opinion in 2009, 2010 and 2012.
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