The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday announced that food products from five Japanese prefectures that were banned after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster in 2011 can now be imported to Taiwan, effective yesterday.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare on Feb. 8 promulgated draft measures for “types of food, and their production or manufacturing areas in Japan where imports are suspended,” saying that “designated foods imported from Japan shall be accompanied with a certificate of radioactive examination results for import inspection,” before opening a period of public comment.
“The proposals take effect immediately,” the FDA said.
Photo: CNA
The measures prohibit the importation of certain products, instead of banning all products from specific regions; require importers of high-risk food products to submit a certificate of origin and a certificate of radiation inspection; and require that food products from the five prefectures be inspected batch by batch.
About 17,000 imported food items are inspected for radioactive contamination each year, and an estimated 8,000 additional items would need to be inspected after the ban is lifted, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said.
Taiwan has the capacity to conduct radioactive contamination inspections on up to 69,000 imported food items per year, so consumers need not worry, Chen said.
Food labels would indicate products imported from the five prefectures and inspection certificates would be included for certain food products, he said.
Asked whether 10 days were too short for public comment, Chen said that a referendum was held on the issue in 2018 and millions of people cast their votes, so it is not a new issue.
An adequate number of public comments was collected, he added.
The online Public Policy Participation Network Platform gathered 36 public comments: 17 in support of the policy, four against, and 15 that offered suggestions or inquired about the policy, he said.
The policy is based on scientific evidence and international food safety standards, Chen said, adding that public health would be safeguarded.
Asked when the first batch of food products from the five prefectures might arrive, Chen said he did not know any details, but had heard that some companies planned to import the products.
Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has died of pneumonia at the age of 48 while on a trip to Japan, where she contracted influenza during the Lunar New Year holiday, her sister confirmed today through an agent. "Our whole family came to Japan for a trip, and my dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Hsu's sister and talk show hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) said. "I was grateful to be her sister in this life and that we got to care for and spend time with each other. I will always be grateful to
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
PETITIONS: A Democratic Progressive Party official quoted President William Lai as saying that civil society groups are organizing the recall drives at the grassroots level Some civil society groups yesterday announced that they have collected enough signatures to pass the first-stage threshold to initiate a recall vote against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators in 18 constituencies nationwide, saying that they would submit the signatures to the Central Election Commission (CEC) today. They also said that they expected to pass the threshold in eight more constituencies in the coming days, meaning the number of KMT legislators facing a recall vote could reach 26. The groups set up stations to collect signatures at local marketplaces and busy commercial districts. The legislators their petition drives target include Fu
RSS