4 March 2025
Consumers Union of Japan (CUJ) is a consumer organization working for food safety and biodiversity protection.
We call on the European Commission and European governments to protect food safety and the environment. We therefore oppose any attempt to exclude new genetically modified (GM) crops, such as genome-edited organisms, from the regulations currently in place for GM crops in the EU. To guarantee food safety and protect nature, the environment, and our freedom of choice, we call for support for mandatory biodiversity impact assessments, food safety confirmation, traceability, and labeling for all GMOs, including genome-edited organisms.
In Japan, since 2020, the Japanese government has successively accepted notification of genome-edited tomatoes, genome-edited horse mackerel, genome-edited tiger pufferfish, and genome-edited flatfish, and these products have been placed on the market. However, these products have not undergone safety screening or environmental impact assessment, nor have the food products been required to be labeled, simply because no genes have been inserted from outside. Consumers are therefore very confused, because even if we do not want to eat genome-edited foods, we cannot choose them based on the labeling. Consumers have the right to know how the food they eat and the food their families eat are produced. Consumers should have the right to avoid foods produced by genetic modification.
Consumers not only in Japan but also around the world are concerned about new GM crops, including genome-edited crops. We strongly urge you to support the mandatory confirmation of the safety, traceability, and labeling of all genetically modified organisms. Consumers Union of Japan urges you to take our views into account when you consider how to go forward with the regulations for new GM crops in the EU.
Background:
In July 2023, the Commission made a proposal to deregulate plants issued from new
genomic techniques (NGTs), which are currently regulated as GMOs in the European Union. Negotiations have proven difficult. The proposal made by the Commission suffers from important flaws, since the criteria for speeding up market access are not science-based, as pointed out by many non-governmental organizations and experts. It is crucial to adapt the implementation of the current GMO regulation in the EU to also apply to new GMOs such as genome-edited foods.
Open Letter (pdf):