Japan: Japan Gives Green Light to Genome Edited Waxy Corn Product

On March 20, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare (MHLW) and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) added a waxy corn product to their lists of genome edited products not subject to regulations for genetically engineered food, feed, and biodiversity. This is the fourth type of genome edited product added to the lists and the first developed a by a non-Japanese company. Corteva Agriscience developed the waxy corn product using CRISPR-Cas9 technology to increase amylopectin in the corn.