Czech biotechnology company BeneMeat has published an open letter to the UK Prime Minister, warning that the proposed UK–EU sanitary and phytosanitary agreement risks undermining Britain’s position in cultivated meat and other novel food technologies.

In the letter, published on 11 September, BeneMeat argues that the UK has built a valuable lead in cultivated meat and related novel food technologies, and calls on the Government to ensure any SPS agreement preserves the UK’s ability to assess and authorise new products according to its own scientific evidence, priorities and timetable. The company says uncertainty over the shape of the eventual deal is already causing companies to pause investment, partnerships and commercial plans in Britain.

The core warning

BeneMeat CEO Roman Kříž said Britain “has built an environment that attracts technology, know-how and investment,” adding that “if it gives up the ability to make decisions on emerging food technologies based on its own scientific evidence, priorities and timetable, it could quickly lose this advantage.” He went on to argue that “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.”

The letter ties this to a more immediate concern. As SPS negotiations have progressed, BeneMeat says questions around the treatment of novel foods are already affecting the practical pathway for bringing cell-cultivated products into the UK for research and development, with companies that have prepared prototypes and controlled R&D activities among the first to feel the effects.

Investment already on hold

BeneMeat, a spin-off of medical technology group BTL Industries, says it has invested in the UK, established a presence there and taken concrete steps towards bringing its technology to the British market — progress it says is now on hold while clarity is awaited.

“The agreement has not yet been concluded, but the uncertainty surrounding Britain’s future regulatory approach is already affecting business decisions,” Kříž said. “Companies need to know whether Britain intends to remain a place where emerging food biotechnologies can be developed and commercialised. Without that clarity, investment, partnerships and expertise will move elsewhere.”

A wider technology base

BeneMeat positions cultivated meat as an early commercial application of cell-culture and bioprocessing capabilities that it says also strengthen a country’s broader knowledge and industrial base — framing its concern as extending beyond a single product category. The company points to its own track record in the space, including its status as the first in the EU registered as a producer of cultivated meat for pet food, in autumn 2023, and its team of more than 150 R&D staff.

Full open letter to the UK Prime Minister: Open Letter to the Prime Minister