EU Regulators Review Measures on Imports From Japan, Harmonizes Animal Welfare Reporting

19 Apr 2013 --- An EU Commission measure to revise rules on imports of food and feed originating from Japan following the Fukushima nuclear accident was today endorsed by experts meeting in the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH).

At the last major review of the measures in October 2012, the second growing season after the nuclear accident was still underway and so for several crops, including rice, not all data was available. Therefore, it was foreseen to carry out an intermediate review in March 2013. Under the measure, existing restrictions for food and feed imports coming from the prefecture Fukushima are maintained whereas control measures have been slightly modified for the other 9 prefectures located in the restricted zone (Shizuoka, Gunma, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Miyagi, Saitama, Tokyo, Iwate, Chiba and Kanagawa).

For these prefectures the main changes are the delisting of products for which pre-testing is required before export to the EU including pears, pome fruit and scallops as well as adding to the list buckwheat, lotus root and beef The pre-testing of mushrooms from Nagano, Aomori and Niigata is now also required.

Based on the 2013 growing season monitoring results, it is foreseen to carry out the next review of these measures shortly before 31 March 2014. EU's imports of feed and food from Japan amount to a total of approximately €216 million, which represents around 0.4% in value and less than 0.1% in volume of all its food/feed imports.

For the Japanese economy, food and feed export to the EU represents only 0.3% of all exports from Japan to the EU. The measures will be published in the second half of May 2013 following the adoption of the proposal by the Commission and are foreseen to enter into force on 1 June 2013.

The news came as a decision to harmonise information to be submitted annually by Member States on inspections carried out to ensure compliance with EU legislation on animal welfare during transport was adopted by the Commission.

Information on where the inspections were carried out; the problems detected; and the actions taken by the Member States to correct the problems identified will need be included in the information that Member States provide the Commission. Today's Decision follows a recent Commission report , on the same subject, which concluded that receiving this information in a uniform way will provide a clearer overview of the situation in the EU and will provide a better basis to analyse and plan specific corrective measures at EU level.

This new EU reporting scheme will also contribute to improve the enforcement of animal welfare legislation that is a matter of priority as highlighted in the EU animal welfare strategy 2012-2015 . It also forms part of a series of initiatives promoted by the Commission to ensure the proper enforcement of EU legislation to protect the welfare of the animals during transport. An international conference dedicated to the same topic is being organised together with the Irish Presidency and with the support of the European Livestock and Meat Trading Union (UECBV).