The European Parliament is pushing for an outright ban on the commercialisation of the cloning of animals, preventing their use for meat, as well as dairy and other livestock by-products.

It has voted overwhelmingly for an amendment within European Union (EU) legislation to ban cloning animals for economic reasons. "It's degrading to animals and causes suffering. Animals are sentient beings and should be treated with respect. They are not commodities," said Janusz Wojciechowski, the Polish member (MEP) who proposed this declaration. He was "very satisfied" with the vote which showed that MEPs put animal welfare above economics.

The vote is not binding on EU institutions, but Wojciechowski predicted that the European Commission may now table firm legislative proposals for a comprehensive animal cloning ban, possibly next year. MEPs voted to declare that their institution "strongly believes that the cloning of animals for economic purposes should be banned," although it still supports cloning for advancing pure science.