April 21, 2006

Japan's panel cannot decide on safety of Bt-10 corn

The Japanese Food Safety Commission said Thursday (Apr 20) it has failed to reach a conclusion about the safety of genetically modified corn known as Bt10, because it cannot tell how the modified genes are distributed.

The commission said it has not decided whether to approve the Japanese government's plan to allow corn shipments from the US to contain up to 1 percent of the GM crop, according to a commission official.

If the government does proceed with this plan, it should take measures to manage risks, as the commission cannot rule on the safety of Bt10, the official said.

Bt10 is a strain of corn made by Swiss agrochemical firm Syngenta AG. The corn is modified to produce a toxin that kills insects and to make it resistant to withering.

The commission could not draw any conclusions about the safety of Bt10 because scientific tests did not provide a clear picture of how modified genes were distributed in the corn's DNA.

"If you think of a plant as a puzzle, we have the pieces, but we can't tell how they fit together," the official said.

However, the commission did acknowledge research from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries showing that chickens who ate feed that includes Bt10 suffered no adverse effects.

The commission has made its mid-term report available for public comment until May 19. After that point, it plans to submit its report to the ministry unless the report requires further debate.