Publication: Kyodo News
Date: Tuesday, August 21, 2001

TOKYO, Aug. 21, Kyodo - An advisory panel to the farm ministry issued a report Tuesday advising the government to allow the sale of animal feed containing up to 1% of unapproved genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

However, any genetically modified food variety imported from abroad should already have been approved by respective foreign authorities using the same safety testing standards as in Japan, the report said.

Currently, about 90% of the animal feed available in Japan is imported. If the panel`s recommendation were to be adopted, it would help expand the distribution of imported animal feeds, industry officials said.

If it is approved by the Agricultural Materials Council, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry will revise the related regulations so that the recommendation can be put into practice by early next year, ministry officials said.

Of the genetically modified varieties of organisms approved for animal feeds, only the one known as StarLink, a genetically modified corn, has not been approved in Japan.