Think tank Cellular Agriculture Australia (CAA) has made a submission to the government advocating to include cellular agriculture products in Australian Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).
CAA says that as the Australian and global cellular agriculture industries progress towards commercial scale, trade law and FTAs become increasingly relevant to the industry’s success.
According to CAA, cell ag products are effectively excluded from Australia’s FTAs.
“It is important to establish institutional arrangements to support the trade of cellular agriculture products, particularly now that cellular agriculture company Vow is exporting its product ‘Forged’ to Singapore,” the think tank noted in a LinkedIn post.
“That’s why we made a submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Trade and Investment Growth’s Inquiry into the understanding and utilisation of benefits under Free Trade Agreements. Exclusion from FTAs acts not only as a brake on Australian industry but also as a brake on inbound investment.
“The inclusion of cellular agriculture in FTAs would create not just a positive outcome for Australian businesses, but could attract global investment from companies seeking to manufacture and export from Australia.”
Cellular agriculture refers to the use of cells and innovative technologies to produce new ingredients, food, and agricultural products. It is a component of the $13 billion market opportunity for Australia identified by the CSIRO in “Australia’s Protein Road Map”.
Cell ag technologies include precision fermentation, cell cultivation, gas fermentation, and molecular farming. The most common food and ingredients being created are meat, seafood, dairy proteins and fats, which are typically derived from animals.
CAA notes in its submission how the sector is starting to attract interest from major existing meat and food producers, accelerating the cell ag industry’s potential. Multinational companies like Nestlé, Kraft Heinz, Mars, Cargill, and Fonterra have varying degrees of involvement in progressing the precision fermentation industry, and likewise, JBS, Danone, Nestlé and Tyson Foods are involved in progressing cultivated meat.
CAA also says the most promising markets for foods produced using cellular agriculture are in South-East Asia and the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, making approximately half of Australia’s 18 Free Trade Agreements potentially relevant for the sector.
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