Consumers shall have no choice

A non-public EU Commission paper confirms that food from offsprings of cloned animals are already on the European market. The animals get into the market via the import of breeding material from the US. The EU Trade Commission argues that in future too these products should not be regulated, labelled or controlled for unexpected risks, because so far no systems have been established for registering the animals in exporting countries such as the US. If the EU Commission succeeds, consumers within the EU will not get any information about these products like milk and meat, despite a high level of consumer rejection of cloning of animals for food production.

"Products that are widely rejected on ethical concerns are to be disposed of via consumers. The EU Commissioner De Gucht is giving in without a fight to industrial agriculture lobbyists. This is astonishing since only very few companies are making profits from this highly controversial technology," says Christoph Then at Testbiotech in Germany.

According to the EU Commisison paper circulated within the European Parliament, the Commissioner for Trade only intends to regulate products that are directly derived from the cloned animals. But these products only have a very small market volume. The food products that are derived from their offspring have a much greater impact on markets.

Testbiotech in 2010 published a study on behalf of the Greens in the European Parliament which documents the risks and consequences of introducing cloning animals for food production. Testbiotech especially recommends controls on the import of breeding material. The systems necessary for registering the cloned animals are perfectly practicable. Registers for offspring are very commonly used in breeding livestock.

The European Parliament is now trying to find a compromise on 16 March in the framework for the renewed Novel Food regulation. The Parliament is asking for a ban of food products derived from cloned animals and their offspring.

The 'non paper'-Document from the Commission is attached.