MEPs urged to reach compromise on cloned animals

12 May 2011

Posted by Michelle Devonshire

The regulation of food from cloned animals has been discussed in the European Parliament and the Hungarian Presidency has called for a compromise on the issue.

A statement was read out on behalf of Minister of State, Eniko Gyori, who called on MEPs and the European Council to reach a consensus on new draft legislation.

At the plenary debate, he declared a previous failure to agree to regulation had been a "serious collective fiasco" by the various institutions of the European Union (EU) and urged politicians to support a new draft from the Commission.

"Hungary fully backs the Commission's idea that cloning rules should be laid down in a special legal act," the minister revealed, adding "joint efforts" are needed to achieve a compromise.

Cloned animals are currently regulated under 258/97/EC, which is concerned with the legislation of novel foods.

The Vice-President of the European Parliament, Gianni Pittella, has insisted it is important that food of cloned animal origin does not continue to be sold within the EU without labelling restrictions in place and has called for a new legislative proposal from the European Commission.