Jean-Lux Mériaux told GlobalMeatNews his organisation “could not support discriminatory legislation which, for example, focuses on livestock but takes no action on dairy”.
He also questioned the cost effectiveness of controls under consideration: “Is animal cloning such a big issue for the EU? Has anyone really quantified the likely size of this market and the likely impact any ban would have on EU territories?”
His comments preceded a European Parliament (EP) full plenary session in Strasbourg to discuss and vote on a draft bill restricting the cloning and reproduction of animals for farming throughout the EU.
Consumers’ health
In its first reading (vote) on the proposed legislation, MEPs have stressed protecting EU citizens’ and consumers’ health and extending the planned ban to include the descendants of cloned animals.
The MEPs guiding the draft legislation through the European Parliament are Guilia Moi, an Italian from the European Freedom and Direct Democracy Group, and Renate Sommer, a German MEP from the centre-right European People’s Party.
Banning the cloning of farm animals, their offspring and derived products originating in Europe or from imports was supported by the parliament’s environment and agriculture committees in June.
That sparked the full plenary session vote, which will follow a debate and formal tabling of amendments.
‘Well-being of animals’
“It is important that our report is adopted and our recommendations pass their first reading tomorrow,” Moi told GlobalMeatNews. “Our proposals guarantee the health of our citizens and the well-being of animals.”
According to Moi, “there is not enough scientific research on the long-term damage to humans of eating food derived from cloned animals”.
Animals used to host clone animals could suffer greatly from the whole process, claimed the MEP. “They are pumped full with large quantities of hormones and antibiotics, which do them no good and are also likely to have a detrimental impact on human health if they enter our food chain.”
According to Moi, without the proposed legislation “Europe could become a testing ground for those US companies who already clone animals and see Europe as market for their products.
‘Unbelievable suffering’
“They don’t care what techniques are used in the cloning of animals, they have little regard for animal welfare and the unbelievable suffering cloned animals endure.”
Mériaux warned however that non-EU countries such as the US could see this as an unfair barrier to entering European markets, potentially sparking diplomatic problems. The UECBV will wait for later negotiations between the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers which will follow this vote, before taking a final position on this issue.
Moi however is sticking to her guns “It is important that all food products containing any cloned animal material is clearly labelled,” she said. “This is not the case in the US. We believe citizens have a right to know exactly what is in the food chain. It is our responsibility to protect the health of our citizens.”