Struan Stevenson: Consumers have a right to know about cloning

IN 1997, it was announced that a ewe – dubbed "Dolly the Sheep" – had been cloned at Edinburgh's Roslin Institute. Back then, it was the stuff of science fiction come true. Fast forward 13 years and Scotland's reputation as a centre for cloning is again big news. In August, two bulls were bred on a farm near Nairn from cloned embryos imported from the US. The bulls had sired about 100 cows and their meat and milk entered the food chain.

The case highlighted just how far commercial cloning has come and how easy it is for produce derived from clones to end up on our plates.

Many countries – including the US, Canada and Brazil from where the EU imports vast amounts of meat, embryos and semen for fertilisation – have already gone a long way down the cloning route.

So far, the EU has not allowed cloning for commercial purposes, but the direction of travel is clear. The European commissioner in charge of cloning issues, John Dalli, has said that products from the offspring of clones are considered conventional foods. At the same time, the commission is proposing a five-year ban on cloning for food production within the EU. This mixed message effectively means Europe will turn a blind eye to the import of produce from clone offspring, while stopping European farmers competing with producers abroad.

Professor Keith Campbell, one of the co-creators of Dolly the Sheep, has spoken about the advances in cloning technology that have increased the success of the technique and cut health problems in the animals.

But this is still a young technology and legitimate questions remain. What is the long-term impact on the gene pool of domesticated animals? Should we be concerned about alleged health risks to humans and to clones themselves?

Perhaps most importantly, do consumers have a right to know whether their food comes from a clone or its offspring? While the jury is still out on certain aspects of cloning technology, the answer to this last question must be an emphatic yes.

• Struan Stevenson is a Conservative MEP