Cloning row blocks agreement on novel foods

The European Commission failed in its efforts to get agreement for food from the naturally-bred offspring of cloned animals to be allowed on the market in Europe, causing a raft of other measures to regulate novel foodstuffs to be pulled.

The Hungarian Presidency said three years of negotiations have, “been thrown of the window” after a mammoth eleven hour session failed to nail an agreement. This means new types of foodstuffs such nanofoods remain unregulated, and leaves the food industry – which is Europe’s largest manufacturing sector – stifled by an antique regulatory system that dates back to 1997.

The all-night talks, which broke up on Tuesday morning (29 March), were the last ditch chance for the EU institutions to break the deadlock. The failure to agree was despite the fact that all aspects of the use of cloning in food production was spliced off from the main package of measures.

It was agreed to ban the cloning of animals for use in food production from taking place in Europe and also to bar meat and milk derived from cloned animals from the market in Europe. But the two sides were divided on whether or not to allow food derived from the offspring of clones to be imported, with the Council wanting this to go ahead and the Parliament opposed to any product bearing any relation to a cloned animal being allowed on the market without a comprehensive labelling system.

Novel foods, healthier diets

The failure to agree new rules was slammed by the Confederation of Food and Drink Industries of the EU, which said they would have stimulated innovation in the food and drink industry by simplifying and streamlining regulations. Encouraging innovation is “central to ensuring the industry remains competitive” the Confederation said, adding that novel foods also benefit consumers, for example, by contributing to healthier diets.

The Hungarian Presidency, as current holder of the rotating EU presidency, said it had worked for months to complete this round of negotiations, reducing the number of outstanding issues from 85 at the start of February to “a mere two” by Monday.

The European Commissioner responsible for health and consumer policy, John Dalli, said the areas where there was agreement, “would have been beneficial for both consumers and the food industry,” highlighting three particular aspects: a new legal definition of nano-materials and their mandatory labelling; a centralised and streamlined procedure for approving innovative foods; and specific measures for traditional foods from third countries. “It is thus a great pity that we have lost the opportunity to codify these aspects,” Dalli said.

The Commission proposed the new regulations in 2008. It retains the option to present a new proposal and restart the procedure, though this could take years. When asked what the next steps would be, Dalli said, “Miracles can happen,” but after this failure a period of “reflection” is required.

This is only the second time that the European Parliament and the Council have failed to settle their differences about legislation in the so-called Conciliation Committee. The first occasion was over the working time directive.

A key reason for the collapse in negotiations this week was disagreement over labelling. The Council was seeking a “gradual introduction of labelling to provide a basis for informed consumer choice”, while the Parliament considered a commitment to label all food products from cloned offspring, “a bare minimum”.

Family trees for salami

“We were not willing to betray consumers on their right to know whether food comes from animals bred using clones,” the Parliament said in a statement.

The Council was unable to accept all the Parliament’s demands, which it described as misleading and unfeasible, and to require “drawing a family tree for each slice of cheese or salami.” The Hungarian presidency said this would have, “given a false sense of security to consumers and risked dragging us into a full blown trade war”.

Members of the European Parliament pointed to a 2008 Eurobarometer study in which a majority of EU citizens said it was unlikely that they would buy meat or milk from cloned animals, even if a trusted source stated that such products were safe to eat. The survey also showed that eight out of ten said special labelling should be required if food products from the offspring of cloned animals become available in the shops.

“It is deeply frustrating that the Council would not listen to public opinion,” the Chair of the Parliament delegation to the negotiations, Gianni Pittella, and the Parliament’s rapporteur on novel foods, Kartika Liotard, said in a joint statement.

Under the 1997 regulation, novel foods, defined as “foods and food ingredients that have not been used for human consumption to a significant degree within the Community before 15 May 1997”, must undergo a safety assessment before being placed on the EU market. Only those products considered to be safe for human consumption are authorised for marketing.

Dalli said, “The only way to guarantee a good deal for EU consumers and food business operators is to deliver a proposal that is based on common sense and one that is both practicable and enforceable including on the issue of labelling.”