Italy could face EU fines over ban on lab-grown meat
Italy could face EU fines over a ban on lab-grown meat aimed at protecting the country’s culinary heritage and farmers’ livelihoods.
The law prohibits the production, sale and consumption of laboratory-produced food “from cell cultures or tissue derived from vertebrate animals”.
Factories breaching the new rules will face fines of up to 150,000 euros (£131,000) and risk being shut down, while owners may lose their right to obtain public funding for up to three years.
The law was passed by Italy’s lower house of parliament on Thursday, having already been approved by the Senate.
The bill was introduced by Francesco Lollobrigida, minister for agriculture and “food sovereignty” in Giorgia Meloni’s Right-wing government.
Mr Lollobrigida, who is Ms Meloni’s brother-in-law, and grandnephew of the actress Gina Lollobrigida, said the approval of the law “puts Italy at the vanguard of the world”.
“We are proud to be the first country to ban it,” he said.
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