Although the Malaysian government is against human cloning, it will encourage research on the subject, said Health Minister Chua Jui Meng.

"Our stand is clear, we are against human cloning by non-sexual methods," he told a press conference after opening the 1st National Conference on Life Sciences in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

However, Chua added that Malaysia will not discourage the research on therapeutic cloning — the use of cloning procedure to produce an embryo that would not be brought to term but to be used in generating stem cells for the creation of tissues and organs.

While there are no laws governing the area of human cloning, Malaysia nevertheless supports the United Nations' resolution in support of forming an ad-hoc committee on the drafting of an 'International Convention Against Reproductive Cloning of Human Beings', as well as several international declarations that prohibit the reproductive cloning of human beings.

National committee

According to Chua, his ministry will head a national committee charged with the task of addressing all issues of human cloning.

"My ministry will formulate the laws on this issue, on what is and not allowed, while the Foreign Affairs Ministry will continue to monitor development on the level of the United Nations."

Agencies involved in the national committee will include the Science, Technology and Environment Ministry, the Foreign Affairs Ministry, local universities, the Attorney-General's Chambers, the Islamic Development Department (Jakim), and the Institute of Islamic Understanding.

The committee was formed this month by the cabinet.

Chua also said the country's very first laws governing the sale and advertising of genetically modified (GM) foods will be ready at the beginning of next year.

The new laws will look at the powers given to the Health Ministry to approve or conduct risk assessment on GM foods before they can be imported, advertised or sold in this country.

"The laws will also provide for proper labelling of GM foods as consumers currently have no choice on whether to consume GM food," he added.

Proper labelling

According to Chua, proper labelling of GM foods are needed over and above risk assessment regulations because without labelling, much of consumer fears over such foods are not being addressed.

He declined to comment on the minimum standards threshold for labeling GM foods on the basis that such criteria are still being worked out by drafters of the new law.

Currently, the Malaysian government has no knowledge of the extent to which GM foods are on local shelves.

However, the minister said if there were GM foods in the local market, they would most likely be of import origins.

"Even countries that do not allow for the consumption of GM foods domestically will export GM products to other countries," he said.

In the United States, Canada and Europe where the GM debate has raged on for years, critics have argued that the lack of transparent knowledge on the trade, labelling, and research of genetically modified organisms is indicative of commercial interests taking greater precedent over public safety and knowledge.

Earlier in his opening speech at the conference, Chua said that the size of the of GM foods industry has skyrocketed from US$75 million in 1995 to a staggering US$2.3 billion on 1999.

"One should remember that while biotechnology allows DNA to be manipulated and genes to be moved from one organism to another, its consequences are largely untested. We should therefore tread with care," he cautioned.

Chua also pointed out potential health hazards that could be posed by GM foods, which include the introduction of new forms of food allergens, perhaps even resulting in familiar foods undergoing adverse changes that make them deadly to humans.