March 9, 2011

Europe warned about cloned cattle ban plans

Initiatives to ban the offspring of cloned cattle could result in a multi-million euro trade war between Europe and the rest of the world, the European Parliament has been warned.

Speaking to the Parliament's committee on international trade, EU trade chief, Karel De Gucht, said calls to ban clones' offspring would cause Europe to reject imports of beef and dairy products from countries such as the US.

"The ban would provoke retaliatory measures on EU exports, costing Europe hundreds of millions of euros a year in lost trade," De Gucht said.

As countries beyond the EU have no traceability systems to trace the origin of food, De Gucht said an outright ban would have to be placed on the imports of beef and dairy products if restrictions on cloned cattle were launched.

The move could have a significant impact if trade partners decided to block EU exports, he added.

De Gucht said while there were serious animal welfare concerns about cloned cattle, a ban of clones' offspring would be hard to defend as they were bred by conventional methods.

According to estimates in an internal European Commission paper, measures such as ending the agreement on hormone-treated beef could see EU exports lose out on EUR250 million (US$347.2 million) annually if the US decided to retaliate.

De Gucht's warning came as the Parliament and European Council began discussions to reach an agreement on the revision of rules surrounding novel foods.

Parliament has insisted any ban on cloning should extend to the products of offspring.