Brussels, 05/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 8 April, the European Commission will make a proposal to the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health. It will propose that the EU adopts Japan's draconian standards for controlling the amount of radioactivity in foodstuffs and animal feed imported from Japan. On Tuesday 5 April, José Manuel Barroso made this announcement to the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
In a reply to Rebecca Harms (Greens, Germany), who was astonished that European value limits were “higher than those in force in Japan and in the US and even above those established in Europe after Chernobyl, particularly for caesium”, Barroso explained that “the values adopted on 25 March aimed to ensure the safety of the European consumer. These values appear to be in proportion to any existing risk. You're right that the US and Japan have even more draconian standards. We thought that at least for Japan, it would be necessary to apply Japanese standards for imports from the country. On Friday, we will advocate the adoption of value limits on the basis of Japanese standards, simply as a precaution, whilst waiting for the re-evaluation of 3954/87 Euratom”. (A.N./transl.fl)