Sponsored by the U.S. Grains Council, in cooperation with the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, a team of Japanese biotech experts traveled to the United States to see U.S. corn production firsthand and meet with U.S. regulatory agencies.
The team members are biotechnology and ecology experts from individual academic societies.
They are influential to safety assessments by the Japanese government of biotech product applications for food, feed and environmental uses.
“The continuing cooperation between the United States and Japan regarding biotech regulations helps ensure that trade between the two nations will continue to flow without interruption,� said Rebecca Fecitt, USGC director of biotechnology programs.
The team was exposed to the large scale of U.S. production upon their visit to the Iowa corn farm of Gordon Wassenaar, director for Council member Iowa Corn Promotion Board.
“We brought the team members to a national park close to my farm to show them that biotech crops can co-exist with other parts of the environment,� Wassenaar said. “The corn quality looks good this year, better than last year, and the yields are increasing.�
The team also met with U.S. biotech regulatory agencies and life science companies.
“As the team was briefed on the U.S. regulatory processes, we are hopeful their increased knowledge base will help to continue to foster the U.S. corn trade with Japan,� Fecitt said.