According to the latest counselor's report issued by the Overseas Agriculture Service Center of the US Department of Agriculture, Japan is the world's largest importer of GM foods and feeds.
Japan imports about 16 million tons of corn and 4.2 million tons of soybeans each year, most of which are genetically modified varieties. Japan also imports billions of dollars of processed foods, including genetically modified vegetable oils, sugar, yeast, and other food additives.
Food processors increasingly use more genetically modified ingredients in their production, and according to the Japanese government, these genetically modified ingredients do not require genetically modified markers.
Despite this, Japanese consumers are still wary of eating genetically modified foods. The Japanese government has been taking stringent measures over the past few years to manage GM foods, including mandatory label management, strengthening of safe food and feed supervision, and biosecurity environmental regulations.