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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Japanese food imports decline: FDA
By Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter
The Food and Drug Administration’s （FDA） new regulations regarding Japanese food imports appear to have deterred importers, as customs have yet to receive any applications for imports of food items produced in areas that would require a radiation test report to enter the nation since the new policy took effect on Friday.
According to the latest statistics compiled by the agency, there were 30 batches of Japanese food imports weighing 2,098.36kg in total that had applied to enter the nation between Friday and 1am yesterday.
“All of which had the necessary government-issued place of origin certificate attached, except for a 15.5kg batch of frozen yellowtail jack fish jaws,” the FDA said in a news release yesterday, adding that it has yet to receive any applications for import permits for foods manufactured in regions that require a radiation test report.
Under the new regulations, importers of Japanese food products must obtain a place of origin certificate issued by Japanese authorities or private organizations authorized by the Japanese government that identifies the prefecture where the items were manufactured.
Aquatic products from Miyagi, Iwate, Ehime and Tokyo prefectures; tea items from Shizuoka, Tokyo, Aichi and Osaka prefectures; as well as dairy products, baby formula, candy, cookies and grain foods from Miyagi, Saitama and Tokyo prefectures are allowed to enter Taiwan only if they have a radiation test report attached showing the detection methods used and the levels of radioactive caesium-137 and caesium-134 in the products.
The new measures were put in place in response to discoveries last month that hundreds of food products manufactured in five Japanese prefectures near the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant had illegally entered the nation with false origin labeling.
FDA Northern Center for Regional Administration official Wang Te-yuan （王德原） said a decrease has indeed been observed in the amount of Japanese food products imported over the past few days.
“The drop was anticipated given that many importers might still be uncertain whether the place of origin certificates they have obtained would be acceptable by border inspectors,” Wang said, adding that the volume of Japanese food imports is expected to return to normal in the near future.
As for the absence of food imports that requires a radiation test report, Wang said it could have been because the importers are still awaiting the results of such a test, which normally takes one to two working days.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
