The Commission has reviewed Hungary’s proposed ban and deems it “unjustified”
Food awareness organization, ProVeg International, has today praised the European Commission and several other EU member states for opposing Hungary’s plan to ban cultivated meat.
In July this year, Hungary notified the Commission of draft legislation to prohibit the production and placing on the market of cultivated meat. Following a review period, the Commission this week announced that Hungary’s proposal is “unjustified”, a stance supported by several other EU Member States.
Italy banned cultivated meat in November 2023, in a move that possibly violates EU law, and a ban has been discussed in France and Romania.
Julia Martin, Cellular Agriculture Lead for ProVeg International, said:
“We welcome the assessment made by the European Commission. Bans on cultivated meat are not founded on substantial scientific evidence, since cultivated meat is still being developed and not yet available to European consumers. It is vital that the EU retains its competitive stand in the development and enablement of this technology, and thus we call for the avoidance of polarization and for the focusing on the economic and food security opportunities that cultivated meat offers all EU citizens.”
Hungary’s proposed ban on cultivated meat was notified via the TRIS procedure which prevents parliaments at national levels from passing bills that could affect the European Single Market without consulting other member states.
Following the TRIS assessment, the European Commission deemed the Hungarian proposal for banning cultivated meat as “unjustified”, saying that the proposed ban was not only unfounded in terms of evidence, but more importantly did not comply with the authorisation procedure for novel foods, which is conducted via the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
Cultivated meat has only been approved in Singapore, the US and Israel. The EU has one cultivated meat product in the regulatory pipeline – cultivated foie gras -submitted by the French company Gourmey.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
For media inquiries, Peter Rixon at [email protected].
For scientific data about the benefits of plant-based eating, see our Food System Data website.
About ProVeg International
ProVeg International is a food awareness organization with the mission to replace 50% of animal products globally with plant-based and cultivated foods by 2040. Our vision is a world where everyone chooses delicious and healthy food that is good for all humans, animals, and our planet.
