The European Union announced plans on Tuesday to temporar-ily ban the use of animal cloning for food production, while allowing imports of food derived from the offspring of clones from the United States and elsewhere. The report from the European Commission followed a call by EU lawmakers in July for a total ban on food derived from cloned animals and their traditionally bred offspring, citing ethical concerns over the industrial production of cloned meat. The Commission said a temporary five-year EU ban on cloning for food production was justified on animal welfare grounds, but said banning imports of food from the offspring of clones was unnecessary and would disrupt global trade. "Food from cloned animals is safe. In fact, the scientific opinion is that it cannot be differentiated in any way from food normally bred animals. The issue is animal welfare," EU Health and Consumer Commissioner John Dalli told reporters. Food derived from the offspring of clones presents no such animal welfare issues, and banning its sale and import would be impossible because the origin is untraceable, Dalli said. "Such a prohibition would lead to a ban of imports of any food of animal origin (meat, milk and processed products)from third countries allowing the cloning technique," the report said. "We're not going to regulate for the world," Dalli added. But animal welfare groups criticized the Commission's decision, saying it had bowed to pressure from third countries. "We do not accept the Commission's position that it would be impossible to enforce a ban that includes the offspring of cloned animals, as (other) meat traceability systems are already in place," said Sonja Van Tichelen, director of the Eurogroup for Animals. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
The ban is permanent. The imports of food from the offspring of clones are not banned. Animal welfare groups support the ban. The ban has been put into effect.