Contact
If you are interested in the work that we are doing at the APAC Regulatory Coordination Forum or if you would like to express your interest in joining as a Member or Observer organisation, please reach out to us via the form below.
+ WHO CREATED THE APAC REGULATORY COORDINATION FORUM?
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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 regulators in different jurisdictions.
+ WHY IS THERE A NEED FOR THIS FORUM?
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Unlike the EU or the US, cultivated food products are subject to different regulatory frameworks across the APAC region, with relevant regulatory authorities taking a case-by-case approach to their safety assessments. Very few agencies have experience processing cultivated food applications and many have questions around existing safety assessment methodologies and the appropriate methods to prevent potential hazards.
A collaborative regulatory forum that brings together key stakeholders (i.e., governmental agencies in different jurisdictions, industry associations, think tanks, and companies) is thus welcome to facilitate knowledge sharing and to support cross-border coordination among the national food regulators in the APAC region, as a means of developing clear and effective pathways towards the commercialisation of cultivated foods, reducing time to market for cultivated food producers, and creating a level playing field for them when it comes to import and export.
+ WHAT TOPICS DOES THE FORUM SEEK TO ADDRESS?
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The Forum shall focus on all aspects of cultivated foods regulations, including terminology, food safety, nutrition, religious rulings and standards, consumer perception and acceptance, and any other topic that may contribute to the development of regional best practice standards.
The aim of the Forum is to provide guidance rather than mandate how regulations should be. As such, the Forum serves to coordinate and amplify existing work, while serving as a complement to current developments.
+ I'M A REGULATOR/POLICY MAKER, EDUCATIONAL ENTITY, REPRESENTATIVE OF A THINK TANK/INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION WHO WANTS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FORUM – HOW SHALL I PROCEED?
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Membership and/or Observership of the Forum is on an invitation-only basis for companies, industry associations, think tanks, and governmental agencies. Interested entities should reach out to the coordinating organisations – APAC-SCA and GFI APAC (via the form above, or email to: calisa@apac-sca.org) – to express their desire to join the Forum.