March 4, 2003

Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW), which is responsible for granting food safety approvals for biotech products, had approved 44 genetically modified varieties for food use, according to a USDA report. Legislation was introduced in 2000 to prevent the import of products for food use which contain GM varieties which are not yet approved in Japan.

To enforce this legislation, MHLW routinely samples and tests imported foodstuffs at ports of entry. Their testing has focused on biotech products which are in commercial production abroad but not yet approved in Japan. Foods found to contain unapproved GM varieties must be re-exported, destroyed or diverted to non-food use.

As a result of this testing and tests of retail food products by local government authorities, one unapproved GM variety of potatoes, two instances of unapproved papayas, and one incident of StarLink corn commingled with food-use corn have been discovered.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) is responsible for environmental safety approvals, feed safety approvals and biotech labeling for foods. On April 1, 2001, MAFF established a labeling scheme under the Japan Agricultural Standards (JAS) which requires labeling for GM food products if the GM DNA or protein can be scientifically detected in the finished foods.

GM advisory labels for the 30 products covered under this program are mandatory if the biotech content exceeds 5%. MHLW also plays a role in enforcing labeling standards under the Food Sanitation Law, but their standards are practically the same as MAFF's Japan Agricultural Standards.

In order for a product to be labeled "Non-GM", certification must be provided to show that the ingredients were handled on an "identity-preserved" (IP) basis at each step of the production and distribution process.

The entire USDA report is available on the Internet at c.