Japan's new GM check guide seen short on detail
Date: 28-Mar-01
Country: JAPAN
The Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry sent late yesterday a 17-page document, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, to local quarantine offices and authorities, including details of sampling and testing for StarLink biotech corn.
New stricter legislation that will set zero tolerance for imports containing unapproved gene-altered products takes effect in Japan in April. The new rules will also require labelling for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food products.
Under the rules, Japan will allow food products containing up to five percent of approved biotech crops such as corn and soybeans to be labelled as non-GMOs.
Animal feed and food products in which DNA or protein resulting from gene alteration cannot be detected using existing technologies are exempted from labelling.
"It's very difficult to understand the new guidelines at the moment," said a source with a major importer. "We need more details on whether the government will strengthen its monitoring against StarLink corn, including the frequency of checks."
Ministry officials were not immediately avaible for comments.
However, with the new guidelines by the health ministry, some domestic importers may shun U.S. corn for food use and shift to other supply sources such as Argentina, Brazil and China, said another industry official.
"If StarLink is detected in imported corn cargoes or food products, what will happen to the importer or the food maker?" he said. "It means 'death' (ruin) to him, not a small injury."
If StarLink turns up in corn cargoes, the importer has to dispose of it or ship it back to the country of origin under the new rules, a ministry official had previously said.
The health ministry, which handles corn imports for food use, has told the domestic industry it would begin its checks for StarLink in food corn imports at unloading ports and in food products on the domestic market with the new rules from April 1.
StarLink was found last October in food products in Japan, where it is not approved even for animal feed, prompting the single biggest U.S. corn buyer to cut buying sharply and with importers scrambling to find other supply sources.
StarLink, made by Franco-German life-science group Aventis , is not approved for human consumption in the United States because of concerns about potential allergic reactions.
Japan imports about four million tonnes of corn for food use each year and another 12 million tonnes for animal feed.
