Ethicists at the world's leading association for reproductive technology have decided to extend a moratorium on reproductive cloning, but only for a single year. The executive committee of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology declared that in the light of mixed record of success with animal cloning, it would be "totally irresponsible, as well as unethical, to start human reproductive cloning". A five-year moratorium began in 1999 and was extended last year by one year.