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.
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