Cultivated Meat Firms Halt UK Plans Over EU Trade Deal

Food tech companies are putting their UK commercial plans on hold. This pause is due to regulatory uncertainty sparked by a pending trade deal with the European Union, according to an open letter from the cultivated meat firm BeneMeat.

The UK is negotiating a new Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement with the EU, set for mid-2027. The deal aims to simplify and reduce the cost of moving goods, including food, between the two markets. However, it could force cultivated meat producers to seek approval through the EU's lengthy novel food process to sell in the UK, potentially undoing recent British regulatory progress.

BeneMeat, a Czech company making cultivated meat for pets and humans, has written to British officials. The letter urges the government to ensure any SPS deal preserves the UK's independent ability to assess and approve novel foods. "Uncertainty surrounding Britain’s future approach to biotechnology is already causing companies such as ours to put investment, partnerships and commercial plans on hold," the letter states.

Regulatory Progress Now at Risk

After Brexit, the UK's Food Standards Agency (FSA) initially followed EU novel food rules before overhauling its framework to accelerate approvals. In 2025, it launched a two-year cultivated meat 'sandbox' programme to develop standards and guidance. This has already yielded several clarifying documents for companies.

The proposed SPS agreement threatens to sidetrack these efforts. The FSA has reportedly warned around 600 approval holders and businesses that the deal could invalidate UK authorisations. Companies might then need to follow the EU's complex process, which can take up to six years.

BeneMeat exemplifies the immediate impact. The company has invested in the UK, built local partnerships, prepared tastings, discussed manufacturing, and filed a regulatory dossier to sell its cultivated meat for human consumption. "Today, however, further progress across all these areas is on hold as we and our prospective partners wait for clarity," the company explains.

A Broader Threat to the Bioeconomy

The company frames its concerns as extending beyond a single product. It argues that cultivated meat is a gateway to broader capabilities in cell culture, bioprocessing, and large-scale biological manufacturing. The same knowledge and infrastructure can fuel advances in drug discovery, medical research, and industrial biomanufacturing.

"Countries that build these capabilities through food production will strengthen their knowledge and industrial capacity across the wider bioeconomy," BeneMeat outlines. The current uncertainty risks delaying product launches and investment. It also creates a danger of the UK losing companies, expertise, and industrial opportunities it previously attracted through commitments to innovation.

Brexit Goals and Future Clarity

So far, only London-based Meatly has been cleared to sell cultivated meat in the UK, and solely for pet food. Several firms, including Aleph Farms and Mosa Meat, have applied for human food approval. The FSA's sandbox programme aims to complete evaluations of two cultivated meat products by its end in February 2027, though no fixed timeline is guaranteed.

BeneMeat contends the SPS deal contradicts a core Brexit promise. "One of the central promises of Brexit was that Britain would regain control over its own rules and decisions," the letter explains. "Yet in biotechnology... The proposed SPS agreement risks producing the opposite outcome: rules determined elsewhere, slower access to innovation, and ultimately less choice for British consumers."

CEO Roman Kříž emphasizes the need for autonomy. "Cooperation with the EU should make trade easier; it should not prevent Britain from deciding for itself how safe innovation can be developed and commercialised," he says. The FSA has stated it is monitoring the trade deal's progress and will update businesses as implications become clearer, focusing on delivering the sandbox's objectives until February 2027.