This article is an English translation of a Foovo article, published with permission from Foovo.

The Japan Association for Cellular Agriculture (JACA), which is working on the formulation of rules for cultured meat, submitted a proposal to the Consumer Affairs Agency and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on the 21st of last month to clarify the handling of cultured meat and other cellular foods, and held a briefing session for the press.

In Japan, there are no specific legal procedures in place for the sale or consumption of cultured meat, and companies are currently finding it difficult to bring products to market due to legal uncertainty.

JACA representative director Megumi Avigail Yoshitomi has proposed two points to promote the formation of rules for cultured meat:

• Establishment of a consultation and information hub for individual cases before products are launched on the market,
• Clarification of legal interpretations and procedures related to product launches on the market.

Issues and proposals for opening up the cultured meat market

Photo:JACA

At present, there are no regulations in Japan regarding the sales procedures for cell based foods, but there are also no regulations prohibiting sales.

In theory, it is possible for companies to sell cultured meat, but companies are refraining from doing so as a matter of unspoken agreement. Unless this situation is broken, it is unlikely that cultured meat will be launched on the Japanese market, and technological innovation will also be difficult to advance.

On the other hand, it is difficult for the government to formulate rules for products that are still in the research and development stage, as there are no precedents. Yoshitomi points out that this background has led to a mutual deadlock between companies and the government.

Yoshitomi pointed out the possibility that cellular agriculture could become an important technology in the future, related to issues such as national security. She emphasized the importance of securing reliable sources of information by implementing the technology in Japan in order to obtain the data needed to assess this potential.

Although there is a lot of publicly available information overseas about cultured meat, there is a possibility that this information may not fit to the situation in Japan, and Yoshitomi believes that verification based on Japan’s technological foundations is necessary.

However, when information is organized by the private sector, it is difficult to access critical information due to trade secrets. Therefore, she proposed the establishment of a “consultation service for individual companies before the product is launched on the market” so that corporate information can be directly collected by the relevant ministries and agencies, and procedures can be clarified based on this. Yoshitomi called for action to be taken by 2025.

In addition, it was pointed out that one of the reasons why research into the safety of cultured meat is not progressing is that cultured meat itself is difficult to obtain in Japan. Because researchers have limited opportunities to hold the product in their hands and verify its safety, this is said to be delaying discussions on safety and social implementation.

Furthermore, as new food technologies are being developed one after another, not just in the field of cultured meat, the shortage of experts who can evaluate their safety is a factor that is delaying discussions on their social implementation. For this reason, Yoshitomi believes that it is necessary to set up a contact point to directly collect information held by companies and use it to help formulate appropriate rules.

JACA’s second proposal is to “clarify the legal interpretation and procedures involved in bringing products to market”.

At present, there is a possibility that it will not be possible to meet requests for export from overseas in time. In addition, in Japan, rules are currently being formed for each category, such as gene editing and GMO, but Yoshitomi is concerned that the same situation will continue for new technologies as new foods other than cultured meat are developed.

Given this background, Yoshitomi recommended clarifying the sales procedures, from production to transportation and distribution, to create a system that enables companies to move forward with commercialization.

Establishing an information consolidation hub to accelerate rule-making

Photo:JACA

Yoshitomi pointed out that one of the reasons for the delay in rule-making is the lack of administrative resources. Currently, the people in charge of cell agriculture are dealing with the issue with a limited number of staff, and they are not able to devote sufficient resources to cultured meat while also dealing with other new technologies.

Additionally, the lack of effective information sharing between the government and companies is further slowing down the creation of appropriate regulations.

JACA believes that, in order to address the resource shortage, government should promote information organization through public-private collaboration to facilitate smooth rule-making. For this reason, JACA believe that the establishment of a contact hub for direct information collection is an urgent matter.

At the briefing session, the case of Singapore was introduced as a reference case from overseas. In Singapore, agencies equivalent to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Consumer Affairs Agency have jointly established a think tank called “FRESH”, which is involved in product design from the early stages of cultured meat development, taking into account safety considerations. This has led to two-way feedback between companies and the government, and has contributed to the rapid formulation of regulations.

JACA believes that Japan should also adopt such a framework for industry-academia-government collaboration.

The full text of JACA’s recommendations can be accessed here.(Japanese)

Press Release

細胞性食品の研究団体、日本の「培養肉」への対応明確化に向け提言を作成　官民連携を呼びかけ