The Food Standards Agency (FSA) will be conducting its meeting on May 25 at Belfast to decide whether or not consumers should be permitted to buy products from cloned animals or their offspring. The FSA has already published the agendas for its upcoming meetings.

The FSA has declared that there is no harm in selling foods from the offspring of cloned cattle and pigs but these products directly derived from cloned cattle or pigs cannot be sold without a license.

The decision of the agency was opposed by some of the producers and retailers of food. Zoe Cawston, a Suffolk beef and dairy farmer, said that by allowing the sale of products from the offspring of cloned animals the FSA is lowering its standards.

The National Farmers’ Union, which represents more than 55,000 commercial farmers in England and Wales, said that is not possible to identify every animal with cloned ancestors. The NFU’s Director of Policy, Martin Haworth told the Yorkshire Post that it has been confirmed by the European Food Safety Authority and the FSA that product of offspring from cloned animals do not pose any potential risk. The final decision will be taken by the FSA during its meeting.