The Department of Agriculture (DA) has eased the importation of various commodities from Japan, after it concluded that the radionuclide level of certain farm goods from the East Asian nation is not harmful to humans.
The DA issued Memorandum Order 1, Series of 2020, dated January 8, that authorized the lifting of prevailing additional import requirements for bringing in certain Japanese commodities.
The DA explained that its attached agency the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards (BAFS) and its ad hoc Task Force on Radionuclide “carried out a food safety risk assessment of radionuclide in fresh agricultural commodities” from Japan.
These commodities include beef, apple and pear.
“The food safety risk assessment concludes that there is no significant food safety threat on fish, apple pears and beef imported from Japan,” the MO read.
Through the MO, the DA pointed out that certificates of radiation analysis and origin are no longer required for the importation of the three agricultural commodities from Japan.
Nonetheless, the MO required the Japanese government to submit an “annual radionuclide monitoring results, certified and signed by their competent authority to continuously ensure the safety of imported commodities.”
The MO, which took effect immediately, revoked MOs 12 and 14 that were issued in 2011 regarding importation of Japanese farm goods.
MO 12 of 2011 required importers to accompany their shipments of plants, planting materials and plant products coming from Fukushima with a certificate of radiation analysis. MO 12 also required importers to present a certificate of origin for their shipments.
On the other hand, MO 14 of 2011 required dairy products and animal feed products not originating from prefectures of Fukushima, and Ibaraki, to be accompanied with a certificate of origin and a certificate of declaration issued by Japan’s competent authority.
The country’s beef imports from Japan in 2018 almost doubled to 16.455 metric tons from 8.323 MT in 2017, Bureau of Animal Industry data showed.