Food law | UK Regulatory Outlook June 2026

UK 

High Court finds England's precision breeding food and feed regime unlawful 

On 4 June 2026, the High Court handed down judgment in R (Beyond GM and others) v Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, holding England's precision breeding food and feed regime unlawful on the ground of irrationality. 

The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Regulations 2025 established the food and feed authorisation framework but imposed no mandatory labelling requirements on precision bred organism food or feed. The irrationality challenge turned on whether the minister correctly understood his legal powers when making that choice. Ministerial briefing materials consistently told the minister that the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 contained no power to impose labelling requirements for food or feed, which the secretary of state conceded was wrong in law. The court concluded the error had not been corrected before the decision was taken and that it inevitably constrained both the range of policy options considered and the enquiries directed. The court found it was not satisfied the outcome would have been substantially the same had the minister understood the full extent of his powers. 

Remedy has not yet been determined, with the parties to make further submissions before the court decides whether to quash the 2025 regulations outright or grant some other form of relief. The picture is further complicated by the proposed UK-EU SPS Agreement (see below), with the judgment noting that the prospects of any such agreement may depend on whether the EU adopts the Commission's proposal for a lighter-touch regime for new genomic techniques, a question that remains live following the EU Council's formal adoption of the NGT Regulation (see below). 

In parallel, Defra has established a new SPS Readiness Business Advisory Council, comprising representatives from across the agri-food supply chain including producers, manufacturers, retailers, logistics providers and trade bodies, which has now met for the first time. The government continues to target implementation from mid-2027, with an estimated 500,000 businesses expected to be affected. 

Government confirms first agri-food tariff suspensions and consults on further package 

As reported in our May edition, the government announced a first package of agri-food tariff suspensions and a business engagement exercise on a broader second package. The first package, including fruits, fruit juices, pasta, couscous and tuna, came into force on 21 June 2026 and will remain in place until 31 December 2028, with an expected consumer benefit of between £100 million and £400 million a year. 

The government has now also consulted on a second, broader package. An indicative list of 125 products was published, including garlic, avocados, mangoes, olive oil, chocolate and biscuits, with an expected consumer benefit of more than £150 million a year if implemented. The government also sought views on a one-year temporary suspension of tariffs on certain fertilisers and on kerosene. The call for input, which closed on 24 June 2026, also invited suggestions for alternative or additional products including goods used by UK food and drink manufacturers. Final decisions will weigh consumer benefits against implications for domestic producers, food security, developing country impacts and international commitments.  

The publication of the response to the consultation and of the full product list will be worth monitoring closely for those across the food sector. 

FSA to develop mandatory healthy food sales reporting and targets for major food companies 

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has confirmed it has received funding from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to develop a system of mandatory healthy food sales reporting and targets for major food companies, with a full public consultation expected within weeks. The FSA chair confirmed at the FSA board meeting on 17 June 2026 that the agency is working with DHSC officials to ensure that any policy brought forward is deliverable, proportionate and enforceable, and that the FSA's formal role will be confirmed following the consultation. 

The proposals, which sit under the NHS 10-year plan, have attracted criticism from industry bodies including the British Retail Consortium, which has argued that the FSA lacks the capacity to develop and fairly police a mandatory reporting system across the food sector, particularly given the demands of the ongoing SPS realignment process. The FSA has acknowledged that mandatory reporting and a potential new role overseeing healthy food standards in schools, following the government's April 2026 announcement of a major overhaul of school food, would represent significant new functions requiring additional resources. Food businesses should monitor the forthcoming DHSC consultation closely, as it will set out the scope of the proposed regime and the FSA's role in enforcement. 

EU 

European Parliament formally adopts new genomic techniques regulation 

The European Parliament has formally adopted a new regulation establishing a two-tier framework for the use of new genomic techniques in plants, completing the legislative process. The regulation was published in the Official Journal on 26 June and will apply from 17 July 2028.

NGT-1 plants, involving a limited number of changes that could have occurred through conventional breeding, will be treated like conventional plants, though seed bags and reproductive material must be labelled as NGT-1. Plants engineered for herbicide tolerance or to produce insecticidal substances are excluded from NGT-1 status. NGT-2 plants, involving more extensive genetic modifications, remain subject to the existing strict GMO rules and must obtain authorisation before commercialisation. No NGTs will be permitted in organic production, though the technically unavoidable presence of NGT-1 plants will not constitute non-compliance. Patents on NGTs will be permitted, subject to safeguards to protect farmer access and the right to save and replant seeds. 

For businesses with NGT products in development, the two-year transition period should be used to assess product classification, plan for labelling and authorisation requirements, and monitor the delegated acts and European Food Safety Authority guidance that will follow. 

EU Council agrees position on food and feed safety simplification package 

As reported in our January edition, the European Commission proposed a package to streamline EU food and feed safety legislation across plant protection products, biocidal products, feed, official controls and animal health and welfare. The Council has now agreed its negotiating position on part of that package and will proceed to trialogue negotiations with the European Parliament. 

Key food-related changes in the Council's position include: a new derogation permitting the use of drones for targeted pesticide application, subject to EFSA risk assessment guidance, with a 30-month window for a delegated act identifying approved drone types and transitional measures allowing Member States to permit drone use in the interim; the repeal of two outdated food contact plastics directives from 1982 and 1985, which have been superseded by the 2011 EU plastics regulation; and the removal of duplicate record-keeping obligations on farmers for medicinal treatments and animal mortalities, which are already captured under the Veterinary Medicinal Products Regulation and Animal Health Law. The Council will continue work towards a full mandate for negotiations on the remaining proposals in the package. 

European Parliament formally adopts reserved meat terms and measures to strengthen farmers' position 

Following the provisional agreement covered in our March edition, the European Parliament has formally adopted the regulation amending the Common Agricultural Policy framework to strengthen the position of farmers in the food supply chain. It introduces a definition of meat as "edible parts of animals" and reserves a list of terms, including steak, sirloin, bacon and ribeye, for meat products only, explicitly preventing their use for lab-grown or cell-based products.  

The regulation also requires Member States to establish and publish online benchmarks for use in contractual arrangements to ensure food prices better reflect actual production costs, strengthens the role of producer organisations in collective bargaining, and introduces mandatory written contracts for dairy producers. It must now be approved by the Council before it can enter into force.