Summary: In 2013 the European Commission proposed a draft Directive according to which Member States would temporarily ban the use of the technique of cloning in mammals used for farming purposes. The EP is now to adopt its first reading position on the dossier, based on a draft report drawn up jointly by the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) and the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI). Supporting such a ban, albeit through an EU Regulation rather than a Directive, the joint EP working Committee envisages extending it to all animal species used for farming purposes. It also proposes to prohibit imports of any products, notably food, derived from cloned animals and their descendants. Possible restrictions on imports of cloned-animal-derived food in the EU are the subject of a parallel proposal by the Commission for a Council-only Directive.
