Home · Maps · About

[ Read Responses | Post a New Response | Return to the Index ]
[ First in Thread ]

view flat

Re: EUEUEUEUEU tyring to ban "cloned meat"

Posted by Olog-hai on Fri Dec 2 21:48:30 2011, in response to EUEUEUEUEU Olog, posted by RockParkMan on Sat Nov 12 14:58:17 2011.

---

BUSINESS | DECEMBER 1, 2011

New Front Emerges in Clone Wars

Europe Regulators Prepare Restrictions to Cloning, as Argentina Forges Ahead

By SHANE ROMIG in Buenos Aires and JOHN W. MILLER in Brussels

The European Union is preparing restrictions on the sale of meat derived from cloned animals, opening another front in the battle over food engineering with modern farm powerhouses like Argentina, where farmers increasingly clone prize pigs, cattle and sheep.

The European Commission, the bloc's executive office, is working on a proposed ban or strict labeling plan for the import of meat, dairy and other products from the descendants of cloned animals, say EU officials.

The EU doesn't import much meat, but the fight is part of a broader tussle over the future of global agriculture, mirroring disputes over genetically modified organisms, beef hormones and chlorine in poultry production.

Argentina, meanwhile, is emerging as the standard-bearer for cloned meat.

Five separate pioneering operations in the South American country have filled their pens with successful clones, enjoying support—and little interference—from government, private companies and universities.

"There's no scientific reason to regulate cloning," said Alejandro Silva, chief of staff at Argentina's agriculture ministry. "In five to six years, Argentina will be the world's largest exporter of cloned and transgenic products [but] we need to get past EU resistance."

As makers of genetically modified crops have found, getting past Europe's sometimes obsessive aversion to "Frankenfoods" can take some doing.

Most EU countries, save Denmark, allow the import of meat derived from clones, but with 58% of Europeans against the notion, says a European Commission "eurobarometer" poll, regulators in Brussels are debating a ban before the practice becomes more commonplace.

There are currently fewer than 1,000 cloned cattle, pigs, goats, horses and mules in the world, says the Washington-based Biotechnology Industry Organization, but their numbers are rising and the costs falling.

A 2009 report by the Parma, Italy-based European Food Safety Authority concluded that cloned foods aren't unhealthy for humans but that cloning—in particular the surgical procedures used to inseminate surrogates and the high death rate in the cloning process—amounted to a form of animal cruelty.

"A lot of these animals get diseases," said Kartika Liotard, a member of the European Parliament from the Netherlands, who is leading the debate in the Parliament.

Proponents of the practice say cloning superior quality animals can potentially improve herd genetics, raise productivity and lower costs. Cloning "is one breeding technology that helps farmers and ranchers produce healthier animals and contributes to more consistent food production," said David Edwards, director of animal biotechnology at the Biotechnology Industry Organization.

With a price tag of as high as $25,000 each, the clones aren't expected to be used directly for meat. Most of their value is in breeding, Dr. Edwards said.

Ms. Liotard and other European Parliament members are seeking rules that are as tight as possible, including a moratorium not just on cloned animals but also on meat from the offspring of cloned animals. At the very least, they want strict labeling that would effectively blunt imports of these meats due to the added costs. That has caused the European Council, which comprises EU heads of government, to warn of a trade war.

In March, negotiations between EU governments, the commission and the Parliament aimed at regulating imports into Europe of meat and dairy products from animals bred from clones broke down.

The European Parliament "wants a misleading, unfeasible solution that in practice would have required drawing a family tree for each slice of cheese or salami," said Sandor Fazakas, farm minister for Hungary, said at the time. Mr. Fazakas and his government support allowing cloning in the EU.

"It's very sensitive issue, and we're still reflecting," said Frederic Vincent, a spokesman for John Dalli, commissioner for health and consumer politics. The commission will propose legislation in 2012, although it hasn't yet set a date, he said.

If the commission delays its proposal, the Parliament will propose its own law, Ms. Liotard said.

Such an EU move is sure to irritate major beef exporters like Brazil, Australia, Argentina and the U.S., who are each experimenting with cloning and have joined together in encouraging other governments to support the practice.

Argentina is pressing on ahead in any case. At the Cabana Milenium biotechnology lab in Buenos Aires province, scientists have cloned 11 animals, including goats, sheep, pigs and the star of the show, Pascual, a clone of one of the country's top Bradford bulls.

The owner, Miguel Mellano, displays a picture of him and President Cristina Kirchner together with a goat named Libertad, the child of two clone parents. The company also offers cloning services that will be introduced into conventional breeding, Mr. Mellano said.

"Technological development is one of my obsessions, because that's where we are going to make our agricultural advantages competitive," Mrs. Kirchner said during a visit to Milenium last year.

To clone livestock, scientists take samples from the skin of prized animals, extracting its DNA and replacing the DNA of a developing embryo with that of the desired parent. The embryo is placed in a surrogate that gives birth to an exact genetic copy of the prized animal.

Despite the U.S. conclusion that meat and milk from clones and their offspring pose no additional risks, the industry needs to make efforts to inform the public about how cloning works to overcome resistance, said Larisa Rudenko, Senior biotech advisor for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has asked that meat producers voluntarily keep clones, but not their offspring, out of markets which have said they don't want it.

Those measures are due to worries over the "yuck factor," as most people don't understand how cloning works and the science behind. Ms. Rudenko said. "Hollywood has taught the public about cloning."

---