Ref. Ares(2016)1925264 - 22/04/2016
Questionnaire for animal cloning for food production
1. Country:
Australia
2.
Competent Food Standards Australia New Zealand
Authority/ies:
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
State and territory government food regulatory agencies:
www.foodstandards.gov.au/foodstandards/foodenforcementcontacts
3. Please identify
a contact person Food Standards Australia New Zealand
(name,
Boeing House
institution,
55 Blackall Street
telephone and e-
BARTON ACT 2600
mail address)
Ph:
Fax:
PO Box 7186
Canberra BC ACT 2610
Australia
Email: xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
4. Do you have national legislation regarding the use of animal cloning technique on
your territory? If not, do you intend to draft a national legislation in the near
future?
YES
NO
Australia does not have specific national legislation on the use of animal cloning
techniques and there is no intention to draft national legislation in the near future.
Australia does have national animal research guidelines developed by the National
Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC):
Australian Code of Practice for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes, 7th
edition 2009; and
Guidelines for the generation, breeding, care and use of genetically modified and
cloned animals for scientific purposes, NHMRC Animal Welfare Committee 2006.
These guidelines were produced to assist investigators, research organisation Animal
Ethics Committees, animal technicians and the broader community in the planning and
conduct of research projects involving the generation and use of genetically modified and
cloned animals of all species, and to ensure that the highest ethical standards apply to
NHMRC funded research involving the use of animals. Compliance with the guidelines
is a condition for research funding allocation, and NHMRC staff conduct ongoing
monitoring of institutions to ensure that recipients of funding comply.
Cloned animals are subject to state and territory government animal welfare legislation
applicable to animals used for scientific purposes. The NHMRC’s guidelines are called
up in various ways under state and territory animal welfare legislation, in which case the
relevant state or territory is responsible for the monitoring of compliance with their
legislation.
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
Office:
- Tel. direct line +32
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5. Is the animal cloning technique used by private companies for breeding purposes
in your territory?
YES
NO
If yes, please specify the name of the companies and the estimated number of clones by
species and the destination and quantities of the cloned animals and products thereof
(reproductive materials):
Information of this type is not held by a single authority, and some of it may be deemed
Commercial-in-Confidence. It is not readily available to the government for sharing with
external parties.
While food from cloned animals and their progeny is not presently regulated, industry
has placed a voluntary moratorium on products of cloning entering the food supply.
6. Do cloned animals in your country have a special identification or register?
YES
NO
If yes, please specify how it is done. Please specify the species covered by the
identification procedure or register.
Australia’s National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) enables identification and
traceability of livestock (cattle, sheep and goats) from property of birth to slaughter for
biosecurity, meat safety, product integrity and market access purposes. The system is
underpinned by state and territory legislation. However, the NLIS does not include
details on whether an animal has been cloned.
7. Do reproductive materials (semen and embryo) from cloned animals produced in
your country have a special identification or register?
YES
NO
If yes, please specify how it is done. Please also specify the species covered by the
identification procedure or register and if exported to which countries.
8. Do breeding centres or farmers on your territory import cloned animals or
reproductive materials (semen and embryo) from cloned animals?
YES
NO
Unknown
If yes, please specify the species, the intended food production (milk or meat) and an
estimated annual number of animals or amount of reproductive materials.
Reproductive materials from cloned animals are imported from time to time. However,
there are no government registers that would enable an estimate of the annual number of
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animals or amount of reproductive materials imported.
9. Do imported clones or reproductive materials (semen and embryo) from cloned
animals have a special identification or register?
YES
NO
Unknown
If yes, please specify how it is done. Please also specify the species covered by the
identification or register.
10. Are you aware of any new information about possible improvements related to
the health and welfare problems on the use of the animal cloning technique?
YES
NO
Unknown
If yes, please provide the documents.
11. Do you have scientific risk assessments on the animal health and welfare and on
the food safety of the products from clones and offspring of clones?
YES
NO
If yes, please provide the documents.
12. Do you have in place, or do you envisage to put in place, a traceability and
labelling system for food derived from cloned animals?
YES
NO
If yes, please specify how it is done and for which type of products.
The Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, developed and maintained by Food
Standards Australia New Zealand, requires food businesses to provide to the regulatory
authority information on the name and business address in Australia of the vendor,
manufacturer, packer or importer of food on their premises. Manufacturers, wholesalers
and importers also need to maintain up-to-date lists of the businesses to which they
supply their products, as well as which batches of product have gone where including,
where relevant, other countries that have received the product.
The Code also requires one step forward/ one step back product tracing in the primary
production and processing sectors, specifically for: seafood businesses; dairy primary
production, transport and processing businesses; and egg, poultry and sprout processors.
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13. Do you have in place, or do you envisage to put in place, a traceability and
labelling system for food derived from offspring of cloned animals?
YES
NO
If yes, please specify how it is done and for which type of products.
In responding to an independent review of food labelling law and policy in December
2011, Australian federal, state and territory and New Zealand ministers responsible for
food regulation noted that, where necessary, foods that have been produced or processed
using new technologies are subject to pre-market safety assessments and must be
assessed as safe before they are allowed to enter the food supply.
Ministers supported the continued application by Food Standards Australia New Zealand
of a case-by-case approach to the labelling requirements for new technologies. In doing
so, ministers noted that mandatory labelling would place a significant cost burden on
industry, may be trade-restrictive, and may inhibit investment in new technologies, and
took the view that a more flexible and/or less burdensome approach could achieve the
same policy goal.
14. Is the animal cloning technique used for research purposes on your territory?
YES
NO
If yes, please provide the names of the laboratories and indicate the field and scope of the
research area, the number of cloned animals by species and the final destination of these
animals and their products.
Information of this type is not held by a single authority, and some of it may be deemed
Commercial-in-Confidence. It is not readily available to the government for sharing with
external parties.
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