–Purpose
Unifying Efforts to Advance
Regulations for Cellular Agriculture
–Overview
Cultivated foods have garnered increased attention from policymakers in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region as this emerging food technology can deliver a steady supply of protein without the environmental and ethical concerns associated with conventional meat production.
Yet, very few regulators in the region have experience processing cultivated food applications and therefore have questions around existing safety assessment methodologies and the appropriate controls required to prevent potential hazards.
To effectively bring cultivated food products to the market, the APAC Society for Cellular Agriculture and the Good Food Institute APAC established the APAC Regulatory Coordination Forum in 2023 as a formal mechanism for continuous and systematic cross-border dialogue between companies, industry associations, think tanks, governmental agencies and food regulators in different jurisdictions.
–Scope
The aim of the Forum is to provide guidance rather than mandate how regulations should be. It serves as a platform to transparently share information, collaborate on inputs such as data or safety assessments, and provide open discussions and viewpoints between partners across the APAC region.
The work of the Forum focuses on all aspects of cultivated foods fit for human consumption, and is intended to complement activities carried out by the regulators, to assist in the mutual recognition of coordinated regulatory frameworks in APAC, and in doing so to minimise trade barriers and cost to consumers.
