The glow-in-the-dark GM medakas produced by the Taiwan-based Taikong Corporation are awaiting approval to go on sale in Singapore.
If approved, they could be on sale within a week.
Singapore's Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), who are in charge of the imports of fishes into Singapore, told the Straits Times that any GM fish must be declared and need to be assessed by the Genetic Modification Advisory Committee before they go on sale. Persons importing the fishes before they are licensed could receive a $10,000 fine or be imprisoned for a year.
The potential importer claims to have been flooded with calls from fish dealers interested in stocking the GM fish should they be approved for sale.
According to British importers the GM fish are not yet on fish availability lists. However, PFK believes that although there is a stong anti-GM feeling among UK fishkeepers that some shops will stock the fish if they do become available.