Agro-Biotechnology: - The Greens | European Free Alliance

Framing legislation | Cloned farm animals - a ‚killing application‘? | 43
before any decisions are taken. The EU Commission should have the courage
to undertake non-discriminatory trade restrictions and not use the WTO 'chill
effect' as an excuse for avoiding any regulation.
Even if products are banned from the EU market, traceability has to be organised
in international markets. Companies in the US have already developed
a system of tracking cloned animals 51 . These systems have to be expanded to
the level of food production. Relevant genetic markers to identify products from
cloned animals together with a system of comprehensive documentation and
registration have to be implemented. Existing registers could, for instance, be
expanded to include information on whether an animal was cloned or was the
offspring of a cloned animal (Gunning et al., 2006). Several announcements
have been made by companies such as ViaGen or TransOva saying they will
establish mechanisms to track their animals use in farming 52 , and companies
such as IndentiGen are able to provide DNA technologies for tracing meat from
specific sources 53 .
6.2.3 Patents
EU Directive 98/44 does allow patents on animals and plants – a regulation
which has been debated controversially for years. Political willingness within
the EU to prohibit patents on animals and plants is increasing. The German
government follows the political goal of avoiding patents on plants and animals
in general 54 . Since new dependencies for farmers and adverse impacts on
research and food security have to be expected if patents on seeds and farm
animals are granted, patent law should be changed to define clear prohibitions
concerning patents on genetic material from plants and animals.
The current legislation might already allow patents on the process of cloning
animals for food production to be ruled out in some cases. Article 6 of Directive
98/44/EC prohibits patents on the process for modifying the genetic identity
of animals in case it is likely to cause suffering without substantial medical
benefit. Since medical benefits can not be expected from animals cloned for
food production, and the suffering of animals caused by SCNT cannot be denied,
patents might be challenged. In cases where patents cover both – medical
and farm purposes – a disclaimer could be introduced to exclude patents for
cloning of animals for food production.
51 See for example: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/570297
52 Cloning Companies Promise to Track Their Animals, 20 December 2007m http://www.wired.com/
wiredscience/2007/12/cloning-compani/
53 http://www.identigen.com/
54 Aigner fordert Änderung des europäischen Biopatentrechts, 10 Juni 2009 http://www.bmelv.de/
SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/2009/120-AI-Biopatente.html