Italy

Legal status	VERY RESTRICTIVE
Key organization	Ministry of Health (Italian) National Bioethics Committee
Policy	hESC research is prohibited unless it is specifically aimed at improving the therapeutic and medical condition of the embryo concerned. Derivation of embryonic stem cell lines is prohibited. Embryonic cell import is allowed for research.
Legislation	Regulation of Medically Assisted Reproduction, Law No. 40, Article 13 (2004)
Legislation Link	http://www.ieb-eib.org/nl/pdf/loi-pma-italie-english.pdf
Embryonic stem cell research policy	The opinion of a local ethics committee is required prior to the import of hES cell lines.
Research with embryo	Any experimentation on human embryos is expressly prohibits by Law 40/2004.
Somatic cell nuclear transfer	Forbidden.
Genetic modification or selection	Forbidden.
Privacy and data protection	Italian Personal Data Protection Code, Legislative Decree No. 196 of June 30, 2003: http://www.garanteprivacy.it/gar ante/doc.jsp?ID=1030925