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The UK stance was spelt out in a report due to go before the country’s Food Standards Agency (DSA) tomorrow as it cautioned that all regulation must be “proportionate and enforceable”.

Disproportionate

Ministers said they did not believe there is currently enough scientific evidence to warrant outlawing food from cloned animals. The UK position comes after the Commission recently called for a five-year ban on animal cloning for food production.

“The Government considers a ban or a temporary suspension on cloning, the use of cloned animals and the marketing of food from cloned animals would be disproportionate in terms of food safety and animal welfare,” said Alison Gleadle, the FSA’s director of food safety. “The UK therefore does not support the Commission recommendation for the temporary suspension of animal cloning for food production because insufficient evidence has been provided to justify a ban.”

Last month the agency’s Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP) concluded that food from cloned cattle and their offspring showed "no substantial difference to conventionally produced meat and milk, and was therefore unlikely to present...