MEAT AND milk from the offspring of cloned livestock can be legally sold into the UK food chain, according to European Commission chiefs, who have stated that special licensing rules do not apply to naturally-reared descendants of clones.

In theory, this decision means that the Scottish farmers at the heart of the cloned cattle furore, the Innes family of Drumduan near Nairn, can now include 96 heifers, two generations removed from a cloned dam, in their dairy herd.

The Food Standards Agency claimed earlier this month that meat or dairy products from the offspring of cloned cattle – no matter how many generations away – could only be sold if specially licensed.

But Frederic Vincent, spokesman for EC consumer affairs comissioner John Dalli, this week stated that produce from the offspring of cloned animals was considered conventional food and needed no special treatment.

Steven Innes welcomed Mr Vincent’s comments, saying: “That is what we have said from the start. We will just wait to see what happens now.”

However, as The Scottish Farmer went to press, Drumduan was still the subject of an investigation by the FSA, which was sticking to its ultra-cautious – and unilateral policy on cloned bloodlines.