On December 11, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare (MHLW) and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) announced their determination that a genome edited tomato will not be regulated as a genetically engineered (GE) product. This is the first product to complete either ministry’s voluntary notification process for verification of whether a genome edited product should be regulated as a GE product. The tomato was developed in Japan by a joint venture between a public university and a private company and is intended for commercial distribution. The developer used CRISPR-Cas9 technology to increase the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) content in the tomato.
Japan Determines Genome Edited Tomato Will Not be Regulated as GE