Czech Industry Body Calls on Government to Close Gaps in New EU Meat Labelling Rules

The Czech Chamber of Alternative Proteins (ČKAP) has written to the Czech Ministry of Agriculture urging it to push for three specific clarifications during the European Union’s ongoing full revision of the Common Market Organisation (CMO) regulation. The open letter, dated 23 June, follows the European Parliament’s plenary vote on 16 June to reserve 31 animal-related terms exclusively for products derived from animals, with cell-based products also excluded from the designation “meat.”

ČKAP, which represents Czech producers and retailers of plant-based, fermented, and cultivated foods, says the approved text contains unresolved questions that could create legal uncertainty for businesses and inconsistent enforcement across member states. The chamber, led by Executive Director David Hůlka, has co-signed the letter with 18 organisations, including ProVeg, the Czech Confederation of Commerce and Tourism, and the Association of Pulse Growers and Processors.

A gap around flavour descriptors

The chamber’s central concern relates to flavour and aroma labelling. Products such as bacon-flavoured chips or chicken-flavoured instant noodles, sold in the Czech market for decades, often contain no animal ingredients but rely on words now reserved under the new regulation. According to ČKAP, the CMO text does not clarify whether the restriction extends to terms used to describe a flavour rather than an ingredient.

The chamber warns that divergent interpretations could mean the same product passes muster in one member state and requires a new name or different packaging in another, creating compliance costs for manufacturers, complications for retailers, and friction for exporters. ČKAP is asking the Czech Republic to back an explicit exemption clarifying that the restrictions do not apply when the listed terms are used as part of a flavour or aroma description.

Hybrid products and threshold ambiguity

The chamber also raised concerns about products combining animal protein with plant-based ingredients. Under the approved text, restricted terms may only be used where animal protein remains an essential component and no other ingredient replaces meat or part of it. ČKAP argues this creates ambiguity, as no threshold or measurement criterion is specified for determining when a product still qualifies. The chamber proposes that the requirement for animal protein to remain essential be retained, but the prohibition on partial substitution be removed.

Pre-emptive restriction on cultivated foods

The third concern relates to a clause restricting the use of the 31 terms for foods produced from cell or tissue cultures, products that are not yet authorised for sale in the EU. The chamber argues that labelling decisions for such products should be made through the existing novel food approval process, where each product is assessed individually for composition and safety. The letter notes that for products derived from animal cells, accurate identification of the animal source could provide relevant information for consumers with food allergies. ČKAP is asking the Czech government to support the deletion of the clause from the revised text.

Wider context

The full CMO labelling revision, in which ČKAP is now seeking the clarifications, is currently moving through the Parliament’s AGRI committee, with the amendment deadline in mid-July, a committee vote expected by the end of 2026, and a plenary vote anticipated in early 2027.