Brussels, 28/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - The drastic post-Fukushima controls imposed by the EU in March 2010 on foodstuffs and feed imported from Japan are to be extended until 31 November 2012, although they will be eased as the risk of radioactivity is now considered minimal. Such measures will also be subject to reassessment every six months (see EUROPE 10502). The decision was taken by experts of the EU27 member states at a meeting of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH). On Monday 27 February, they had endorsed a Commission proposal along these lines.
The risk of radioactivity in food and feed imported from Japan has significantly fallen, and experts have agreed to reduce the frequency of controls implemented within the EU. Thus, for food and food originating in or consigned from 11 prefectures of Japan (Fukushima, Gunma, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Miyagi, Shizuoka, Yamanashi, Saitama, Tokyo, Kanagawa and Chiba), and having to be fully tested by the Japanese authorities before leaving Japan (tests for detecting the presence of caesium-134 and caesium-137), it is deemed appropriate to reduce the frequency of checks (comprising laboratory analyses) carried out on such consignments from 10% to 5%.
For food and animal feed from the remaining 36 prefectures of Japan, which have had to be accompanied by a declaration stating the prefecture of origin and also tested upon arrival in the EU, tests will now only have to be carried out on 10% rather than on 20% as before.
The decline in the risk of radioactivity bears witness to the quality of controls carried out by the Japanese authorities and by EU member state authorities. Renewal of reinforced control measures in a lighter form shows that there is a resolve to remain vigilant despite the fact that the risk for EU food safety is minimal, the European Commission says. (AN/transl.jl)