Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-07-06-Speech-2-547"
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"en.20100706.32.2-547"2
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"Mr President, I, too, should like to extend warm thanks to all the shadow rapporteurs and fellow Members, both present and absent, for their really tremendous cooperation.
In my opinion, the objective of the novel foods regulation should ultimately extend beyond merely food-safety aspects, as other aspects, too, are important to consumers in today’s society. Examples are environmental aspects, animal welfare aspects and ethical objections. Indeed, we often hold discussions here on food that has been tinkered with. Innovation is all well and good, but not at the expense of human life and health. Fortunately, a large majority of Parliament agrees with me on this, and I hope that we can also win over the Council.
What exactly are ‘novel foods’? Well, these are products that were not on the EU market before 15 May 1997 because they had not yet been invented or were not yet recognised as food in the EU, for example. One example of this is nanotechnology. The manufacturers would like to place this on the market. Consumers always love novelty, and indeed new technologies can help us combat obesity, for example. On the other hand, we must be extremely careful about authorising new technologies if we do not know for certain that they are harmless to health, the environment and animal welfare. One of my starting points, therefore, is that the precautionary principle must always apply when novel foods are placed on the market. A food should not reach our plates unless its safety is guaranteed. In addition, consumers must always have a choice and so, if the food is a novel food, this should be stated on the label.
Now for the stumbling block: meat from cloned animals and their offspring. Research has shown that consumers are spending more and more money on animal products produced using methods respectful of animal welfare. Cloned animals are often crippled or diseased, and most are not even alive when they are born. In other words, there is little sign of respect for animal welfare. So far, cloning of animals for human consumption is not commercial practice in the EU, but the possibility that imported meat from cloned animals is already on our tables can no longer be ruled out. There are no specific EU rules for either cloned meat or the placing on the market of semen from cloned animals.
The discussion on cloned meat is not new. The European Parliament has been debating the cloning of animals since back in 2006. In 2008, it adopted a resolution by Mr Parish seeking to regulate the trade in meat from cloned animals. However, the talks with the Council on that report made it clear that that call by Parliament would not be answered. The Council took the view that meat from cloned animals should fall under novel foods legislation. Therefore, Parliament was unable to reach agreement with the Council at second reading. If Parliament were to give its assent to meat from cloned animals being dealt with under novel foods legislation, it would be giving indirect assent for cloned meat to reach our tables.
In addition, the main focus of the novel foods legislation will be on safety for consumption, and there will be much less emphasis on animal welfare and ethical aspects. Therefore, I make an emphatic call for separate legislation on the cloning of animals. Time is short, as the trade in meat and semen from cloned animals was approved in the United States a few months ago. Without a European position, there is a high likelihood of meat or semen from cloned animals finding its way onto the EU market unnoticed and unhindered. I can only hope that Parliament will remain just as firm on this point as it has been over the last three years. We must not produce any unpleasant surprises at the last moment. After all, as a politician, it is damned difficult to explain to voters why – without a public debate on the subject – we are serving up meat from cloned animals on the tables of our consumers."@en1
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