Jennifer Baker is joined by Richard More O’Ferrall, spokesperson for the Greens Group, to discuss the European Commission’s proposal on the use of animal cloning for food production.

Currently the only piece of EU legislation which deals with the issue of  cloning animals for food production is the Novel Foods Regulation, dating from 1997, which requires a pre-market authorisation for imported products. Now, the Commission is due to present its way forward on possible new legislation on animal cloning for food production. The European Parliament has been calling for a legislation for years, claims More O’Ferrall. The Greens Group is strongly in favour of an EU-wide ban of cloning for food production taking into account animal welfare as well as the farmers’ role in animal breeding. The spokesperson elaborates that a ban would also have to include a prohibition of using the offspring of cloned animals for the production of food.