Politics & Law

EU Commission Deems Hungary’s Proposed Cultivated Meat Ban ‘Unjustified'”

Following the TRIS assessment, the European Commission has deemed the Hungarian ban on cultured meat “unjustified” and potentially harmful to the European single market, reports the Good Food Institute.

According to the Commission, the ban could disrupt the harmonized authorization procedure for novel foods at the EU level, which involves scientific evaluation by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The Commission and some Member States also highlighted that Hungary had not provided evidence against cultivated meat to support the ban.

Hungary proposed a ban on cultivated meat this July; the TRIS procedure prevents national parliaments from passing bills that could affect the European Single Market without consulting other member states and the Commission. The assesment of Hungary’s proposed ban underscores the importance of European review in ensuring that member states’ legislation aligns with EU regulations and market standards.

The Commission also reminded Hungary that, following the opinion received on the draft law, it is obliged to officially respond to the questions raised within the time limits set by the procedure.

A cultivated chicken product
© Visualmind-stock.adobe.com

Italy’s case

In Italy’s case, which banned cultivated meat last year, the government passed the laws without completing the TRIS process, violating the procedure’s laws, thus halting a possible assesment.

“Both bans are unfounded, not being based on scientific evidence”

Francesca Gallelli, Head of Institutional Relations at the Good Food Institute Europe, commented: “The Hungarian proposal clashes with the principles of European law, just as it would have happened with Italian law if it had respected the TRIS procedure. Both bans are unfounded, not being based on scientific evidence, especially considering that cultured meat is not yet available to European consumers.”

“Italian law is also potentially inapplicable since it was notified to the European Union after being approved, in violation of the TRIS procedure.”

Mosa Meat has conducted the first formal tasting of their cultivated beef product, the Mosa Burger, in The Netherlands.
© Image courtesy of Mosa Meat

Opinions of Member States

Sweden, Lithuania, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic opposed the Hungarian proposal and gave their opinions.

According to The Good Food Institute, Sweden stated that Hungary did not submit an assessment of the risks posed by cultivated meat nor demonstrated that it may pose risks to human health or the environment.

The Netherlands recalled that products legally placed on the market in another Member State should not be subject to arbitrary restrictions, highlighting Europe’s rigorous food safety assessment for innovations such as cultivated meat.

Meanwhile, Lithuania and the Czech Republic also noted that the proposed ban would constitute an obstacle to the free movement of goods within the EU single market and would be contrary to the principles of free trade. Lithuania added that the EU should remain competitive in developing these technologies and set the conditions for regulation and standards at a global level.

Image of happy young people man and woman in basic clothing thinking and touching chin while looking aside isolated over yellow background
© Drobot Dean-stock.abobe.com

What do consumers think?

A new survey on attitudes toward cultivated meat in Europe, commissioned by the Good Food Institute Europe and published in July, revealed that most EU consumers want to decide whether to eat cultivated meat after EU regulators deem it safe for consumption.

The YouGov poll also shows that Europeans largely favor the sale of ‘safe’ cultivated meat. This support is solid in Portugal (69%), Germany (65%), and both the Netherlands and Austria (63%), a country where agriculture officials are petitioning to ban cultivated meat. Additionally, support for the novel meat is at 62% in Denmark, 61% in the Czech Republic, 58% in Spain, and 57% in Belgium.

When the study was released, Seth Roberts, Senior Policy Manager at the Good Food Institute Europe, said: “Cultivated meat must go through one of the world’s most rigorous regulatory processes before it will be available in the EU. This survey shows people across a wide range of countries believe that once it’s been approved, it should be down to consumers to decide whether or not they want to eat it.”




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