The European Parliament adopted by 529 votes to 120, with 157 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the cloning of animals of the bovine, porcine, ovine, caprine and equine species kept and reproduced for farming purposes.
Parliament’s position adopted at first reading following the ordinary legislative procedure amended the Commission proposal as follows:
Choice of legal instrument: Parliament voted to use a Regulation as the appropriate legal instrument (as opposed to a Directive as proposed by the Commission).
Objective and scope: Parliament recalled that animal cloning for food production purposes jeopardises the defining characteristics of the European farming model, which is based on product quality, food safety, consumer health, strict animal welfare rules and the use of environmentally sound methods.
In this regard, the objective of this Regulation is to address concerns relating to animal health and welfare and to consumers' perceptions and ethical considerations with regard to the cloning technique.
Members recalled that the majority of Union citizens disapprove of cloning for farming purposes due to, inter alia, animal welfare and general ethical concerns.
Provisional or permanent prohibitions: although the proposal qualifies the prohibitions on the use of cloning as “provisional”, Parliament favoured a pure and simple prohibition.
Thus, the Regulation shall prohibit the placing on the market of:
and the import of:
The Regulation shall apply to all species of animals kept and reproduced for farming purposes and not only animals of the bovine, porcine, ovine, caprine and equine species as was proposed by the Commission.
Import conditions: Members stated that animals shall not be imported from third countries unless the accompanying import certificates show that they are not animal clones or descendants of animal clones.
In order to ensure that import certificates accompanying animals and germinal products and food and feed of animal origin indicate whether they are, or are derived from, animal clones or descendants of animal clones, the Commission shall adopt specific import conditions under Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council by 6 months from the entry into force of this Regulation and shall, if necessary, present a proposal to amend other legislation in the field of animal health or zootechnical and genealogical conditions for imports.
Traceability: Parliament noted that traceability systems shall be established for animal clones; descendants of animal clones; germinal products of animal clones and of their descendants. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts to establish detailed rules for such systems. The power to adopt delegated acts shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of five years (tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration) from the entry into force of the Regulation.
Penalties: the penalties provided for shall be effective, proportionate, dissuasive and shall ensure a level playing field.
Reports and reviews: by 6 years from the entry into force of this Regulation, the Member States shall report to the Commission on the experience gained by them on the application of this Regulation, scientific and technical progress, the evolution of consumer perceptions, and international developments, in particular trade flows and the Union's trade relations as well as ethical issues relating to animal cloning.
By means of an official EU-Survey, the Commission shall launch a public consultation aimed at assessing any new trends regarding consumers' perceptions of food products from cloned animals.
The Regulation shall apply from 1 year from the entry into force of this Regulation.