TOKYO, Sept. 24 — Yellow canola plants growing along highways across Japan have been identified as genetically modified, Japanese cooperatives and civil society groups have said.
The civil society groups presented the findings at a meeting in Tokyo on Sept. 22.
They carried out roadside tests in 37 prefectures in Japan this year and found GM canola in the wild in 11 prefectures, from east to west and south.
What’s more, they discovered multiple transgenic traits of canola.
They said foreign-made GM canola is seed that has fallen off trucks during transport to refinery factories. They have pressed companies in vain to transport GM canola sealed in road tank cars.
Government officials from the environment ministry as well as the agriculture ministry attended the meeting and acknowledged multiple transgenic traits.
But the officials said there will be no risk of genes from GM crops spreading through the environment, and therefore, no impact on biodiversity.