Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Law, regulation and treaties · Japan · 2017–2019

Japan imposes administrative sanction over unapproved GM silkworm strain

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 1 not disclosed · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

Japan's Ministries of Agriculture and the Environment sanctioned the Gunma Silk Technology Center in May 2019 over an unapproved fluorescent silkworm strain. At stake for nature is a genetically modified organism that was reared on farms without approval.

What?
An unapproved fluorescent GM silkworm strain was reared and used for cocoon production, and the Gunma Silk Technology Center was sanctioned. Ministry of the Environment, Japan
Where?
Gunma prefecture, Japan; farms selected by NARO. Ministry of the Environment, Japan
When?
Strain reared 2017–2018; sanction announced 7 May 2019. Ministry of the Environment, Japan
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
The strain was reared on farms without approval; the sanction was imposed under the Cartagena Act. Ministry of the Environment, Japan
5 of 6 questions answered from the record · open: who

What happened

The record, in order.

Japan's Ministries of Agriculture and the Environment imposed an administrative sanction on the Gunma Silk Technology Center in May 2019 under the Cartagena Act, the Ministry of the Environment said.

An unapproved fluorescent silk strain was reared in 2017–2018 on farms selected by NARO, Japan's agricultural research agency, and used for cocoon production, according to the ministry.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: a proposal to use NARO's spider-silk silkworm in Amami Oshima sericulture stayed at proposal stage.
    • Not disclosed The number of farms and farmers involved was not disclosed.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not say who benefited from the strain or whether its cocoons reached the market.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    1. Unapproved GM silkworm strain found on Japanese farms
      Ministry of the Environment, Japan · 2019-05-07

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