UK-EU SPS Deal Expected to Spare Novel Foods, Easing Cultivated Meat and Precision Fermentation Fears as Ivy Farm Wins Pet Food Clearance

The UK and the European Union have finalised the text of a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement that would remove most post-Brexit certificates and border checks on food, animal and plant products. For cultivated meat and precision fermentation companies, the main question has been whether the deal would also pull novel foods back under the EU’s authorisation system. Industry experts now say it is expected to include a time-limited exemption for novel foods. Neither government has confirmed this publicly.

The timing matters. In the same week, Oxford-based Ivy Farm Technologies said it had received UK clearance to sell cultivated Wagyu beef as a pet food ingredient. That makes it the second company in the UK, after Meatly, cleared to supply cultivated meat for pets.

What the SPS deal changes

According to The Guardian, a 200-page SPS text has been settled, and sources say there will be no further negotiation. EU ambassadors were due to discuss the draft and a joint leaders’ statement in Brussels on Wednesday, ahead of a UK-EU summit on 20 November where the package is expected to be confirmed. The draft statement says the deal would allow “the vast majority” of movements of animals, animal products, plants and plant products between Great Britain and the EU to take place without the certificates or controls currently required.

Implementation has slipped. The summit was delayed by six months after the change of UK prime minister, and the rules are now expected to take effect in the first quarter of 2028 rather than in 2027. The UK also has to “dynamically align” its food standards legislation with EU law, which adds to the delay.

Why novel food companies were worried

The UK kept following EU novel food rules after Brexit. In 2024 it began reforming its own framework to shorten approval timelines. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) set up a two-year cultivated meat regulatory sandbox, which runs until February, and has since published several guidance documents. It also launched a £1.4 million Innovation Research Programme, supported by the Regulatory Innovation Office, to build its capacity to assess fermentation-derived foods.

Full dynamic alignment would have put that work at risk. The FSA reportedly warned about 600 authorisation holders and businesses that the SPS deal could make UK authorisations void and send them through the EU process, which can take up to six years. BeneMeat said the uncertainty had led it to pause its UK plans, even though it had already filed a dossier for human food. It also sent an open letter to the prime minister asking that the UK keep the ability to assess novel foods on its own evidence and timeline.

How the reported exemption would work

As described by experts to Green Queen, the UK would follow EU decisions on products the EU has already assessed. For novel foods the EU has not yet evaluated, it would keep its own rules. A UK authorisation would give access only to the UK market, and companies would still need EU approval to sell in member states. Gene-edited plants are reportedly covered by a similar temporary exemption.

“If it goes ahead, a temporary novel food exemption would have a significant positive impact on efforts to bring products such as cultivated meat and precision fermentation to the UK market,” Linus Pardoe, senior UK programme manager at the Good Food Institute Europe, told Green Queen. He also cautioned that the exemption has not been publicly confirmed by the UK government, the European Commission or member states. The FSA is expected to update businesses once negotiations conclude.

The FSA is already reviewing human-food dossiers from Ivy Farm, Aleph Farms, Mosa Meat, BeneMeat, and Parima’s Gourmey and Vital Meat. According to Green Queen, Parima is furthest ahead.

Ivy Farm takes the pet food route

Ivy Farm’s pet food clearance came from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). This is a separate route from FSA approval for human food. The company grows F1 Wagyu from cells taken from a single Japanese Black cow raised in Northern Ireland. It says the ingredient can be used in dog treats, wet and dry food, fresh meals, toppers and specialised nutritional formulas.

Ivy Farm reports 20g of protein per 100 kcal, compared with 17.2g for beef sirloin. It says independent tests show 98% digestibility, against 91% for conventional beef. Pet food manufacturer Fold Hill Foods is developing products with the ingredient for its brand and retail partners. Ivy Farm is still waiting for human-food approval in the UK, the US and Singapore. CEO Harsh Amin has said that long regulatory timelines and a tougher funding environment are the company’s biggest challenges.

What to watch

The trade deal is mainly about lower costs and less paperwork for mainstream agrifood exporters. For the alternative protein sector, it will decide whether the UK remains a separate, faster market to launch in. Companies with UK dossiers in progress should look for the wording of the joint statement on 20 November and the FSA’s guidance that follows.