Parliament calls for EU ban on Cloned Food

摘要

The European Parliament has reiterated its opposition to meat and milk produced from cloned animals by banning nfood produced this way. n nThe Parliament has reaffirmed its first-reading position to exclude food derived from cloned animals or their noffspring from a draft EU regulation on novel foods. n nThe Commission and EU member states would like to regulate the sale of ‘novel foods’. But MEPs have adopted na more restrictive approach, asking the Commission to table a separate legislative proposal to expressly ban food nfrom cloned animals and their descendants. n nIf EU countries reject the Parliament's position, a conciliation procedure will be launched to find a compromise. nIn the meantime, the Parliament is asking for a moratorium on all sales of food derived from cloning, a position it nhas maintained since it first passed a resolution on the matter in 2008. n nThe Commission's initial proposal for a novel foods regulation would have regulated food derived from cloned nanimals but not their traditionally-bred offspring. EU member states, meanwhile, would like to see both addressed nunder the new rules. n nThe safety of food derived from cloning is currently not questioned by the EU or US authorities (EurActiv n18/01/08; EurActiv 25/07/08). n nBut the US Food and Drug Administration has encouraged American farmers to voluntarily keep their cloned nanimals off the market during an unspecified transition period to allow the US Department of Agriculture to work nwith interested industry stakeholders to ‘ensure a smooth and seamless transition into the marketplace for these nproducts’. n nThe European Parliament's call for a complete ban on food from clones, if followed by the 27 member states, ncould thus lead to yet another bitter transatlantic food trade dispute sometime in the future. n nExamples of major EU-US trade disputes in the food and agriculture sector include those concerning genetically nmodified organisms, hormone beef and chlorinated chicken.