Cloned animals in food

The European Parliament today voted on draft EU legislation on the cloning of animals. The Greens welcomed the vote, which would introduce a comprehensive ban on cloning, and on the placing on the market of food from clones and their descendants. After the vote, Green food safety spokesperson Bart Staes said:

"Today's vote for a comprehensive ban on cloning in food is a victory for common sense. Given the myriad of ethical, environmental and other concerns with cloning, the only responsible approach is to apply the brakes. The EU Parliament has today voted for robust EU rules; upgrading the draft law proposed by the EU Commission from a provisional moratorium to an outright ban and, crucially, ensuring it applies not just to food from clones but also from their descendants, which is where the real risk lies.

"MEPs have also voted to strengthen the legal base of the draft law, transforming it from a directive to a regulation, which would mean it would have to be uniformly and directly applied across all EU member states. To ensure the rules can be properly enforced, MEPs also voted to introduce provisions on the traceability of these foods."

Green agriculture spokesperson José Bové said:

"Clone food brings significant concerns, with impacts in areas such as livestock management and food security, but also in terms of genetic diversity and animal welfare. It would be totally irresponsible to ignore these and plough ahead with cloning as some misguided technological fix. MEPs voted today to treat these concerns with the seriousness they deserve. We hope that this strong position adopted by the European Parliament today will provide the basis for the final legislation to be negotiated with EU governments in Council.”