MEXT announced on 24 October 2018 that Ritsumeikan University had lost GM plant material. On 8 June this year, it was reported to MEXT that when GM thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) seeds were sent by post from Ritsumeikan University to Yokohama City University (YCU), it appears that the envelope was torn and the tube containing the seeds went missing sometime after arrival at YCU. The incident actually occurred on 18 May, but the seeds were unrecoverable due to the delay in reporting the loss to MEXT. Moreover, it also became clear that there were inadequacies in Ritsumeikan University�fs operating rules for the transfer of sensitive materials.

The GM Food, etc. Investigative Panel of the Pharmaceutical Affairs and Food Sanitation Council, MHLW, which is examining regulation of food modified by genome editing under the Food and Sanitation Act, held a hearing with industry groups, consumers' organizations and others on 19 November 2018. (See BJ October 2018) During the discussions, MHLW policy on genome editing technology regulation was indicated to be, "We will base judgments not on which genes have been manipulated but on how the final product will turn out, just as with GM technology." It therefore became clear that food modified by genome editing would not be subject to regulations, since "simply cleaving DNA" makes it impossible to judge whether a modification has been carried out or not when it is the final product that is examined. In the same way, foods from which the inserted DNA is removed before the final product is produced, or cases in which there is no DNA manipulation, as with the RNA interference method, will also not be subject to restrictions. As things stand, many of the new plant breeding technologies that have become subject to regulations due to the decision handed down by the Court of Justice of the European Union will not be subject to regulations in Japan and are very likely to be left outside regulations for labelling.