madam president this is a complicated dossier on which there are many differing views so i would like to start by thanking the rapporteur for going along with some views in the spirit of compromise when she may have personally preferred otherwise
there is however general recognition amongst all political groups that there needs to be clear regulation for novel foods both to protect the consumer and give legal certainty to producers
i would now like to thank the commissioner for not just her work but her introduction making it so very clear that the aim is to simplify and streamline this whole process
indeed one of the important principles for our group is that such regulation should help to facilitate the development of such foods and not put so many restrictions in the way that they never see the light of day
for this reason we have asked for a roll-call vote on amendment thirty to confirm support for this key objective
we also believe that any regulation should be proportionate and practical
for this reason we are against the suggestion that any product made with the aid of nanomaterials should have this separately stated on the label
we are also against the suggestion that a novel food cannot be approved if it has a negative impact on the environment after being consumed or becoming waste
that may sound reasonable but who is to establish such a fact and based upon what evidence
would not some existing products also be banned under such an edict
we agree with the need for the commission to present a legislative proposal on cloning
we also agree with the need to strengthen data protection for a certain period
we are grateful that a number of our amendments have been accepted in committee and hope that those of our amendments which narrowly lost in committee will finally be passed in the full plenary tomorrow
but i can confirm that as a sign of our general support we will propose to vote in favour of the report at the end and to get the show on the road
