Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill on the cultivated meat sector.

The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill will ensure that plants and animals developed using precision breeding technologies in ways which mimic traditional and natural processes, and food and feed products produced from such plants and animals, can be regulated proportionately to risk.

Under this Bill, HM Government intends to introduce simpler regulatory measures to enable food and feed produced from precision bred plants or animals to be brought to market more easily, and we will support our leading scientists to develop plants and animals that are more nutritious, resistant to pests and disease and resilient to extreme temperatures. HM Government acknowledges the potential benefits of innovative protein development and will continue to work together with interested parties including the cultivated meat sector on developments in this area.