Shiga Prefecture to Draw Up Guidelines to Control GM Crop Cultivation

Shiga Prefecture in western Japan will draw up guidelines of its own to control, to some extent, the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops grown for food.

On August 18, 2003, Yoshitsugu Kunimatsu, the governor of Shiga Prefecture, learned that genetically modified soybeans were being grown in the prefecture. Officials from the prefecture, the municipality where the GM soybeans were grown, the local agricultural cooperative and the soybean grower discussed the issue and agreed that the crop was unsuitable for the prefecture. They discontinued the cultivation on August 20th.

Shiga has enacted an ordinance on agriculture committed to the environment, clarifying its commitment to the environment as a responsibility to future generations. Responding to the recent issue of GM soybeans, the prefecture decided to draw up guidelines of its own based on the ordinance. The details of the guidelines have yet to be discussed.

The national government has legally approved the cultivation of some GM crops, accepting them as safe. The view of Shiga's governor, however, is that Shiga can have, and when necessary must have, ordinances that are independent of the central government's policies.



Posted: 2003/10/29 10:52:30 AM
Japanese version