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The Ministry of Future Affairs has launched a new regulatory learning platform aimed at helping novel-food developers navigate the EU authorisation process and informing future pre-submission advice.

The New Foods RegLab, announced on 15 October 2026, will bring together novel-food applicants, regulatory experts and policymakers to identify gaps in how companies interpret and apply existing guidance.

The initiative forms part of the Ministry of Future Affairs’ first Future Prototype, Building on Draghi: Regulatory Learning With The New Foods RegLab, which proposes greater collaboration between EU Member States, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Commission.

The organisation argues that expanded pre-submission advice under the proposed Biotech Act I could provide greater support to individual applicants, but says a broader system for sharing regulatory learnings could help improve the process across the sector.

The New Foods RegLab will therefore operate as a cross-border regulatory learning platform, with anonymised findings from participating companies intended to inform discussions around the future design of pre-submission advice.

The statutory timeframe for the EU pre-market authorisation process for novel foods is 18-24 months. However, the Ministry of Future Affairs said the process takes an average of two and a half years in practice, with some applications taking more than five years.

An independent analysis of 292 applications cited in the paper found significant variation in authorisation timelines. Administrative procedures during the validation stage and requests for additional data during scientific evaluation were identified as contributors to extended timelines.

According to the Ministry, these delays are linked in part to knowledge transfer and process design rather than the underlying authorisation rules.

It said applicants, consultants and national authorities are currently learning similar lessons independently, while there is no institutionalised mechanism for transferring knowledge gained at national level to EU regulators.

The organisation also highlighted a decline in specialised novel-food expertise among Member States.

The proposed regulatory learning model would seek to address these gaps by creating a mechanism through which applicants and national authorities can share insights and experiences, helping regulators better understand the practical challenges involved in preparing novel-food applications.

The Future Prototype proposes an opt-in approach involving willing Member States.

Under Biotech Act I, the Ministry suggests a targeted provision that would enable Member States to establish joint regulatory dialogue and learning platforms covering emerging biotechnologies, including food biomanufacturing.

Biotech Act II could subsequently provide a longer-term legal and funding framework for shared tools, cross-border training and structured reporting of findings. Potential funding routes could include Horizon Europe or the European Competitiveness Fund.

The proposed model would also establish a formalised regulatory learning loop. Participating Member States would report their findings, with the European Commission publishing the learnings and facilitating cross-border exchange so that insights could also reach countries not directly participating in the platforms.

The Ministry said the approach would build on existing opt-in models within EU legislation, including national AI regulatory sandboxes established under the AI Act and the European Forum for Innovation Facilitators in financial services.

Participation in the proposed regulatory learning platforms would be voluntary and would not provide authorisation or create new regulatory powers. The Ministry said safety standards would also remain unchanged.

The first cohort of the New Foods RegLab is scheduled to take place in Brussels in January 2027.

Up to 10 non-competing companies will participate, covering different product categories and company sizes. The programme is open to companies preparing to bring a novel food to the EU market, including businesses established outside the EU that are preparing to enter the region.

Participants will take part in a two-day programme with food-safety regulatory experts who have more than 15 years’ experience of taking novel-food dossiers through the EU authorisation process.

The programme will examine participants’ regulatory positions and strategies, identifying potential gaps and next steps. It will also include a policy session focused on the introduction of pre-submission advice under Biotech Act I and II.

Companies will not need to have completed an EU dossier or developed a fully formed regulatory strategy to participate.

The workshop will be led by Atova Regulatory Consulting on behalf of the Ministry of Future Affairs and will operate under the Chatham House Rule.

Anonymised findings will subsequently be shared with EFSA and the European Commission as part of policy recommendations relating to expanded pre-submission advice.

Applications for the first cohort close on 30 November 2026.

The Ministry said improving the predictability and efficiency of novel-food authorisation could have wider implications for European food innovation, investment and supply-chain resilience.

It argued that although Europe continues to invest in food research and innovation, technologies and companies can move overseas before reaching commercial scale, particularly to the US.

The paper also links novel-food regulation with the EU's strategic autonomy, citing the region's growing dependence on imported inputs critical to its food supply, many of which are manufactured in China.

The Ministry said an efficient approval process is therefore important not only for individual food-tech companies but for the wider agrifood value chain.

It also highlighted the role of public investment in developing European manufacturing capacity. Manufacturing infrastructure supported through initiatives such as the biotechnology IPCEI for food and feed could deliver greater value if operators and assessors have a shared understanding of what is required for an efficient novel-food authorisation process.

Anna Handschuh, founder and managing director of the Ministry of Future Affairs, said: “The EU wants to introduce a much broader pre-submission advice for novel-food applicants. However, this would only help one applicant at a time. Shared cross-border learning platforms as enhanced collaboration mechanisms can inform a whole system and support food safety, competitiveness and strategic autonomy.”

Handsuh added that the UK's regulatory sandbox for cultivated meat demonstrated how regulatory learning could help regulators keep pace with scientific development while maintaining food-safety standards.

She said Biotech Act I and II could provide a framework for regulatory learning without changing existing safety requirements.

The New Foods RegLab is being run by the Ministry of Future Affairs in collaboration with Atova Regulatory Consulting, with support from the Dutch Province of Zuid-Holland, LIOF and ROM-Nederland.