Brussels, 04/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Union has amended the list of Japanese prefectures from which imports to the European market of food and animal feeds are subject to strict monitoring of radioactivity, in line with the standards put in place following the Fukushima nuclear incident. The previous list of 13 prefectures (Fukushima, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Tochigi, Miyagi, Yamagata, Niigata, Nagano, Yamanashi, Saitama, Tokyo and Chiba) now contains only 12.
The prefectures of Niigata and Yamagata have been removed from the list while that of Shizuoka has been added. The addition of Shizuoka was deemed necessary after Japanese authorities found tea leaves originating from Shizuoka not compliant with their action level of 500 Becquerel (Bq) per kilo for caesium. In addition, French authorities at Roissy airport intercepted a shipment of green tea leaves originating from Shizuoka with non-compliant caesium levels. Specifically, about 1,000 Bq of caesium per kilo of green tea leaves were found.
Niigata and Yamagata were removed from the list after tests on almost 550 samples from the two prefectures were found to comply with standards.
On Monday 4 July, member states' representatives on the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health approved the Commission proposal on amendment of the list. The Commission is expected, before the end of the week, to adopt an amendment to EU law (Regulation EU/297/11). The stricter controls on foodstuffs and animal feeds from the 12 prefectures (testing for the presence of iodine-131, caesium-134 and caesium-137 before leaving Japan) will apply until 30 September 2011, but will be reviewed in early September. (A.N./transl.rt)