Brussels, 30/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - In the wake of the news of plutonium detected in the ground around the Fukushima power station, the European Commission confirmed to the press on Wednesday that at this stage, the tightened-up controls of imports of food from Japan did not include this radioactive chemical element, but that if needs be, measures to this effect would be taken. The Commission at the same time denied, in response to questions from journalists, that the limits of contamination of food products authorised by EU legislation have been increased for foodstuffs imported from Japan.
“The regulation of the Commission adopted last week (EUROPE 10345) is a partial application of the regulation EURATOM 3954/87 adopted in the wake of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. It specifies controls on iodine and caesium 134 and 137. At this stage, no controls have been requested for plutonium and strontium as provided for by the Euratom regulation, because last week, there had been no leaks of any in Fukushima. If there had been leaks of plutonium and strontium, the Commission and its member states would have adopted a different regulation”, said Frédéric Vincent, spokesperson to John Dalli, the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection. A meeting of the standing committee on the food chain and animal health will take place on 8 April, he said.
The EU could therefore extend the scope of the controls to plutonium, and the fact that it has not yet done so is because the Commission wanted to react proportionately to this crisis. “We have focused on the three contamination elements already found or which could be anticipated”, the spokesperson added, pointing out that a monthly review of the measures is planned, without ruling out early action in the event of emergency. And “a meeting of the member states could be called very quickly”.
Stressing the speed of the EU's response, by means of regulation which was “adopted in two days”, he said: “The Commission will tackle this subject head-on. Yes, we will take account of possible plutonium contamination. The situation on the ground is being assessed on a daily basis. DG Energy, DG SANCO and the delegation of the EU on the ground are in permanent touch with the Japanese authorities”.
Fielding a great many questions, Vincent took pains to reassure his audience: “There are no products contaminated with plutonium on the European market. Between yesterday and today, no products from the region have arrived in the EU, given the fact that foodstuffs imported from Japan take several weeks to reach Europe, unless they are brought here by air”, he said.
In any case, the member states are authorised, if they so wish, to take more restrictive measures than those laid down by the regulation of Thursday 24 March.
In 2010, the EU imported 9,000 tonnes in Japanese fruit and vegetables. During that year, the value of agricultural products imported from Japan represented €187 million, and that of fisheries products €18 million. (A.N./transl.fl)