European Union clone talks break down

Discussions about regulating imports into Europe of meat and dairy products from animals bred from clones collapsed recently because of disagreements between governments and the European Parliament over how broad the rules should be. The failure should be welcomed by farmers in the US and Brazil, among other countries, where cloning for food is gaining ground. Food manufacturers should also be pleased, as it results in an open-ended reprieve from any new and potentially costly labeling requirements, The New York Times reports
Negotiators for European governments accused the Parliament of “political grandstanding” in pushing for unworkable rules “that would have required drawing a family tree for each slice of cheese or salami.” Representatives from Hungary, which holds the rotating European presidency, say that they could not adjust their offer further without the risk of provoking a trade war.
But the Parliament’s negotiators insisted on tougher rules for imports and said they were sticking to principles, citing surveys that show European public opinion overwhelmingly against cloning for food. Some members of Parliament suggested that the breakdown of the talks showed that several lawmakers had been overzealous in exercising the powers, which were granted under an EU treaty that took effect in late 2009. The plan rejected also would have regulated nanomaterials, or very small particles, in food, and banned cloning for food on EU territory.
Denmark is the only European country that has banned cloning for food outright. However, it also remains rare in the rest of the 27-country European Union.
The failure of the talks means that anyone who wants to market meat or dairy products from clones produced on EU territory still would need to seek permission under existing regulations from the late 1990s that were meant to cover newly developed ingredients. So far, no one has sought such permission, according to the European Commission. A formal ban would have pre-empted that possibility.
The more problematic issue is how to regulate imports of milk and meat products – and large amounts of eggs, semen and embryos – from cloned animals raised in countries where the technique is used, such as the US, Argentina and Brazil. The precise amount of food imports from clones and their descendants is unknown, according to the commission. Imports of genetic materials like semen used for inseminating animals in Europe constitute about two per cent of Europe’s supply, while imports make up about five per cent of the beef consumed in Europe. These meat and dairy products from the offspring of clones currently receive no prior assessment or labels – a situation that will continue for now.