CellAg Deutschland Publishes Germany’s First National Action Plan for Cellular Agriculture
CellAg Deutschland e.V. has published the first comprehensive National Action Plan for cellular agriculture in Germany as part of the EU research project FEASTS (Horizon Europe).
The EU novel food procedure was most frequently cited as a structural barrier. Empirical studies show that in practice the authorisation procedure takes more than three years on average, even though the Regulation stipulates a procedure lasting 17 months. Another point of criticism is that final authorisation is granted by a political body, the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (PAFF), which means that even products scientifically assessed as safe can be blocked.
Four key areas with specific recommendations for action
On regulation, the plan recommends a national contact point offering advisory services, co-financing of application costs for SMEs and model dossiers for cultivated categories. At EU level, it calls for binding deadlines at each review stage, published written justification where member states depart from a positive EFSA opinion, and phased submissions that let companies open a review with smaller product volumes. Germany is also urged to press, in the EU Biotech Act trilogue, for the removal of the provision that excludes novel foods from the act’s regulatory sandboxes, a position the report describes as inconsistent with Germany’s stated support for both the act and the EU protein strategy.
On financing, scale-up and pilot plant capital was named the priority stage by most respondents. The recommendation is a co-financing instrument matched to private capital, for example on a euro-for-euro basis, alongside dedicated funding calls at BMLEH and BMFTR level that name cellular agriculture explicitly. The Netherlands has allocated €60 million to a cellular agriculture programme through its National Growth Fund, which the report treats as a workable model.
On agriculture, consultation responses located the realistic openings upstream, in feedstock supply for culture media, biopsy provision and energy supply, while agricultural advisers remained skeptical of farm-based bioreactor production on grounds of sterility requirements and capital intensity. On public confidence, the plan recommends a national scheme for pre-approval tastings, independent sustainability data covering energy, water, land use and emissions, and communication built around the product rather than the production technology.
