Japanese consensus conference

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Submitted by kwame boateng and rose gai on Wed, 02/29/2012 - 21:49

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Problems and Purpose

History

The consensus conference was held in 2000 and was the first time in the history of Japan that the government has sponsored a deliberative conference. The Japanese government convened the consensus conference. The conference was similar in model to the Danish conference model in that it usually lasts for either three days or four days. Also the consensus conference is not designed to force the lay panel to reach a consensus. Instead, its main aim is to open up a dialogue among the public, experts and politicians over a controversial issue of science and technology from a citizen’s point of view. The conference was open to the public and media. The government wanted the conference open to the public to ensure transparency. The Japanese public had been disappointed with it government handling of the Starlink incident in which some genetically modified corn from America had almost gotten into the Japanese’s food supply. Since Japan is a net importer of corn the government of Japan relied on the USDA to make sure that Japan only received non genetically modified corn. The corn had been certificated for feed in the US but in Japan it had been certified for neither feed nor food. This conference was seen as a chance for the Japanese government to earn back the trust of it citizens.

The panel neither strongly supported nor rejected any side of the debate on genetically modified crops. They remained very neutral about their finding on wither or not the benefits or risk was great to the public. The panel gave the GM techniques and GMO crops a cautious approval. By giving this cautious approval it allowed for the current usage of the GM techniques from a viewpoint of natural and social science to be used as the current model. Their report emphasized benefits and risks of plant biotechnology. The committee then gave their report to the MAFF (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan) and MHLW (Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.)

Originating Entities and Funding

Participant Selection

The participant selection group of the panel was chosen by the society for techno-innovation of agriculture, forestry and fisheries (staff) through various ways. Some of the ways people found out about this panel was thru various media, including newspaper advertisement and flyers that were posted thru out the country. Eighteen people were selected out of nearly 500 people who signed up to be on the citizen’s panel. Participants were stratified by geographic location, sex, age and occupation. After two pre conference weekends in September of 2000, the group met for the conference in two consecutive weekends in October/November 2000. During these conferences experts representing various positions were invited to meet and present their different views and recommendations regarding GM foods. The public was able to see the deliberation during the exercise. The public was able to read about the conference in the newspaper but there was not heavy coverage of the conference on the television. Government officials along with people who represented the bio- tech industry either gave testimony or helped the steering committee pick who testified before the lay panel. on

In an after action report done for the government ministry (MAFF) that sponsored the consensus conference, a survey was done. Some of the lay persons felt that the selection of experts by the steering committee was not appropriate, some of the experts selected had a bias slant towards the bio industry and not enough mainstream experts were allowed to testify. They felt that no anti-GMO representatives were allowed to testify.

Deliberation, Decisions, and Public Interaction

The panel sessions were open to the public and media. According to the media reports the deliberation was transparent. The fact that a large group of people came out to watch the conference was the biggest thing to come out of the whole process. It was a sign to the government that the public was willing to come out learn. This helped the government feel that they had started to win back the public’s confidence after the Starlink incident.

After taking testimony from the panel of experts plus hearing from all sides, the panel came up with a decision. The panel deliberated for a few days before giving out its recommendation. The panel then gave their recommendations to the MAFF, which then commissioned another conference to identify future research subjects. The government made no commitment to act on the conferences recommendations but stated that, “depending on the proposals of the lay panel, we might reflect them in public policy.” (Mariko Nishizwa p.484)

The public saw the openness in which the government was willing to allow its citizen to participate in this deliberative action as a positive step. It seems to the public that the decisions the government made was in the best interest of the people. After the government made this decision to have a deliberative communication between the government and its people the people began to want more of a say in these matters, but then some of the citizens forced the governments hand and made them carry warning labels on the outside of the packaging that these foods may have be genetically modified. The people began to demand that this policy go into effect by saying they were going to boycott companies who would not put these labels on the outside of their packaging. This scared the companies so much that the Japanese business instituted these voluntarily. This policy would not have happened if business in Japan had not bucked to the pressure of the people. The companies agreed to start putting warning labels on their food. By getting business to voluntary get on board with this it made the government really think about what they were putting into their peoples bodies without science giving the ok. The biotech industry is one of the most important industries in japan.

Influence, Outcomes, and Effects

Analysis and Criticism

Secondary Sources

epa/ starlink corn. (n.d.). Retrieved from EPA: www.epa.gov/oppbppd1/biopesticides/pips/starlink_corn.htm

Kato, R. S. (2009, June). Public Engagement in Japanese policy-making: a history of genetically modified organism's debate. New Genetics and Society, pp. Vol. 28, No.2 139-152.

Nishizwa, M. (2005, December). Consensus Conference: citizen deliberation on science and technology and their environments: case study on the Japanese consensus conference on GM crops. Science and Policy, p. Vol.32 number 9.

pure food. (n.d.). Retrieved from pure food org.: www.purefood.org/ge/010403_starlink_corn.cfm

Renn, M. N. (2006). Responding Public Demand for Assuance of Genetically Modified Crops: Case from Japan. Journal of Risk Research, pp. Vol, 9, No, 1 41-56.