Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 12/18/13

The European Commission has proposed a law to ban cloning of farm animals in the European Union, as well as the import of cloned livestock and the sale of food or dairy produced by cloned animals, according to wire service reports and local media.

Products made from the offspring of cloned animals, however, would not be banned.

The EU executive arm, with representatives from 28 nations, proposed a similar ban in 2011, but it failed due to a dispute over labeling, according to a report by Reuters.

The new proposal would institute a ban of five years.

To some extent the debate is symbolic. Cloning is not practiced in the EU for food production because of its relatively high cost, and no food-business operator has applied for permission to sell food produced by cloning, Bloomberg reported. However, animals are cloned to some extent in the U.S., Canada, Brazil and elsewhere and their products marketed domestically and overseas, Bloomberg said.

The proposal’s supporters say they are responding to consumer opinion, citing European consumers’ rejection of cloning in the livestock or food supply. Its critics say the law introduced onerous labeling and traceability requirements on producers and may affect trade relationships.

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