Brussels, 17 January 2008

Brussels, January 2008 - Last week, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published its draft opinion on animal cloning for food purposes. It is now calling for stakeholder comments via an online consultation.

Euro Coop, the European association of consumer cooperatives, views EFSA’s work as a first step. Cloning is still at early days and better understanding of the technology will require more scientific data and further research.

Moreover, without denigrating the role of Science in this debate, Euro Coop would not like to see the scientific dimension outweigh the highly political and ethical dimension of the matter. Accordingly, particular attention should be paid to the opinion of the European Group on Ethics in Science to be published shortly.

Euro Coop encourages these first steps from EFSA towards a broader dialogue on the thorny issue of animal cloning. With the US Food and Drug Administration having announced that meat and milk from cloned animals is safe, and with the Commission proposal on Novel Foods paving the way for market approval of food produced by “emerging reproductive techniques”, it is high time for a thorough public debate.

Euro Coop does not want any capital decision to be taken behind closed doors and earnestly recommends proceeding with openness, transparency and anticipation. Euro Coop’s Secretary General, Rodrigo Gouveia, commented today: "Lessons from the past should be heeded. The EU cannot afford to wait until food resulting from cloned animals is on supermarket shelves to start a dialogue with the general public. More than ever, communicating to consumers is key".

Euro Coop will publish its full position on the question of animal cloning for food purposes in due course.

EURO COOP is the European Community of Consumer Cooperatives, whose members are the national organisations of consumer cooperatives in 17 European countries. Created in 1957, EURO COOP today represents over 3,200 local and regional cooperatives, the members of which amount to more than 23 million consumers across Europe.

For further information, please contact:
Laura Street, Food Policy Officer, Euro Coop
Tel: +32 (0)2 285 00 74, Fax: +32 (0)2 231 07 57
E-mail: lstreetateurocoop.coop