Food agency to determine safety of cloned meat and milk 

The Commission has sent a request  to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for a scientific opinion on the implications of animal cloning on food safety, animal welfare and the environment. The opinion, due by August 2007, is set to determine whether meat and milk from cloned animals are safe to eat. 

The request comes shortly after the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA ) stated, on 28 December 2006, in a draft risk assessment , to be endorsed in April 2007, that meat and milk products from cloned cattle, pigs and goats were safe for consumption. Due to limited data on sheep clones, the FDA recommends that sheep clones not be used for human food. The FDA is currently seeking comments from the public on the draft. 

No specific EU regulation on food products from cloned animals for consumption exist, but the Commission is currently reflecting policy development in this area in the framework of legislation on new foods, zootechnics and animal health.

Cloning is not a commercial practice in Europe and cloned products are not known to have entered the European food chain as yet, but, according to the Commission's letter to the EFSA, we are "on the verge of widespread commercial use" and cloned products are "expected to spread within the global food chain before 2010". Currently, livestock cloning is gaining ground, particularly in the US. 

The Commission has also asked the European Group of Ethics (EGE ) to give an opinion on the ethics of cloning.