While it might seem like Italy's government is changing its position on cultivated meat, experts suggest that the withdrawal is a strategic move to avoid the European Commission rejecting the bill outright.
Image from Good Food
Institute
The Italian government has withdrawn a draft law that would ban the
production and marketing of cultivated meat products.
In March of this year, the country’s rightwing government, backed by
the country’s biggest farmer’s association, proposed a draft law to
ban cultivated food in Italy, claiming it is a threat to the
traditional slaughter-based meat industry. Those who produced,
exported or imported food grown from animal cells could face fines
up to nearly $64,000.
The draft bill drew widespread criticism from the opposition party,
as well as environmental and animal activists. Riccardo Magi, the
president of the small leftwing party Più Europa, said the
government had “created a new crime”.
“This time they are taking it out on synthetic food and prefer to
continue with their reckless prohibition instead of doing research
and developing a technology that could allow us to pollute and kill
less,” Magi said.
Good Food Institute (GFI) Europe, an NGO working to make the global
food system more sustainable, explained that the Italian
government’s decision puts it at odds with the rest of Europe, where
other governments are investing in cultivated meat.
“The passing of such a law would shut down the economic potential of
this nascent field in Italy, holding back scientific progress and
climate mitigation efforts, and limiting consumer choice,” said
Alice Ravenscroft, Head of Policy at GFI Europe.
“It could prevent Italian scientists from undertaking crucial work,
and ban Italian cultivated meat startups from existing at all. Italy
would be left behind as the rest of Europe and the world progresses
towards a more sustainable and secure food system. And the 54% of
Italians who already want to try cultivated meat would be banned
from doing so.”
Despite the pushback, the Senate of the Italian Republic approved
the bill on 19 July, with 60 percent of senators supporting the ban.
Paused for Now
As with all legislation that may impact the EU single market, the
bill is required to be examined by the European Commission and EU
member states before it can be adopted, through the procedure called
, according to GFI Europe.
Media reports from the Italian press claim that the government
withdrew it from this process “"for an in-depth study of the issues
covered by the bill, in light of the ongoing parliamentary
discussion and the amendments that the text could suffer".
However, while it might seem like Italy's government is changing its
position on the bill, experts suggest that the withdrawal is a
strategic move to avoid an outright rejection, especially given the
negative views expressed by some EU member states regarding the
draft proposal.
“The withdrawal of the notification can be seen as a way to avoid an
official rejection by the European Commission, and at the moment
marks a stop to this measure,” explained Claudio Pomo, Development
Manager at Essere Animali, Italy’s leading animal advocacy
organization.
“Good news for now, but it is not yet a definitive victory and we
must not lower our guard,” added Pomo. “Minister Lollobrigida has
already said that he wants to continue with this battle and there
will certainly be other moves. We will be prepared to fight back to
promote foods that do not derive from animal suffering.”
Europe Embracing Sustainable Solutions
The Italian government's anti-cultivated meat stance sets it apart
from the rest of Europe, as other European governments are
allocating funds for the advancement of cultivated meat.
The Netherlands recently unveiled a €60 million government funding
commitment for research and development in the field of cultivated
meat and precision fermentation. Meanwhile, the UK government
initiated a funding opportunity of £16 million for sustainable
proteins, which encompasses cultivated meat. Additionally, the
Spanish government has invested €5.2 million in a project aimed at
exploring how cultivated meat could contribute to the prevention of
diet-related diseases.
Gallelli said: “We hope that the step backwards on the European
examination indicates the government’s willingness to modify the
text of the bill on cultured meat, guaranteeing compliance with
Union law.
“Only a week ago, however, the parliamentary majority rejected all
the changes to the text in the House Commission, including those
that intended to harmonise the bill with European legislation,
resolving its numerous and important critical issues.”
She added: “We hope that Parliament will avoid the adoption of a law
that would cause a fragmentation of the European single market and
would hinder the sustainable growth of the country, also causing
immediate damage to Italian companies in the sector.”