www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

The prospect of cloned meat being sold in Europe drew nearer on Thursday
after the European Union?s food safety authority was asked to rule on the
matter, March 2007 by Andrew Bounds.

The European Commission said it had asked the European Food Safety
Authority (EFSA) look at the implications for food safety, animal health,
animal welfare and the environment of cloning. The US approved in principle
meat and milk from cloned animals for consumption last year.

EFSA, a technical body that tends to back scientific innovation, will report
back within six months. ?Animal cloning is a new breeding technique, which
is currently used almost exclusively for research purposes in the EU.
However, it appears likely to develop and expand both in the EU and
internationally in the future,? the Commission said.

An advisory group on ethics would also be asked to update its 1997 ruling.
That found that there were potential benefits for agriculture from the
process, though warned against reducing the gene pool too far.

The issue became more pressing in January after a British farmer revealed
the birth of a calf born from a cloned father and surrogate mother. There
are no rules covering whether its milk should undergo extra tests before
being sold.

A Commission spokesman said no company had yet applied to clone animals
commercially or to import cloned meat into the EU. He said the EU?s 27
member countries would be asked for their opinion but might not have a
formal role in decision-making.

Several are very wary of the technology. While EFSA has consistently
approved genetically-modified crops, a majority of governments have combined
to block the Commission?s attempts to put them on the market. They argue
that the public is not prepared to eat them.

[www.ft.com]