India is not to impose a blanket suspension of food imports from Japan for now. This follows findings that so far no such imports from the earthquake and tsunami hit country to India were contaminated.
This decision was taken after a high-level meeting chaired by the Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Anand Sharma, official sources told Business Line .
The meeting followed an advisory by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Tuesday stating that the import of all food articles coming from Japan be immediately suspended for three months or till such time as credible information is available that the hazard (of radioactive contamination of food items) has subsided to acceptable limits.
Many countries had taken measures to prohibit import of food items from Japan following fears of contamination of such items due to radiation from the recent earthquake and tsunami damaged-nuclear reactors at Fukushima.
The FSSAI had sent the advisory to the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) for notification to implement the suspension. However, the review meeting, held prior to the notification, found that as of now a blanket suspension of food imports from Japan was not warranted.
The meeting, however, endorsed the FSSAI recommendations including strict monitoring of food imports from Japan and a weekly review of the situation; 100 per cent testing in India of all food imports from Japan (instead of relying only on testing of samples for radioactive contamination); and ensuring that all food items from Japan are declared ‘free from any contamination' on departure from that country as well as on arrival in India.
The meeting was attended by officials from the health, food, commerce and external affairs ministries, the Atomic Energy Department, the DGFT and the FSSAI.
The Ministry of External Affairs had sought a review of the FSSAI advisory.
The Foreign Secretary, Ms Nirupama Rao, had reportedly said on the social network site Twitter that she has taken up the issue with “Food Safety (FSSAI) and urged review of (the) Advisory.”
She added, “Quantity (of food items) imported (from Japan is) small. No notification… so not set in stone.” The total food imports from Japan were only around $5.2 million in 2009-10 and $3.41 million during April-September 2010 (in 2010-11).
The US, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the European Union were among those that had reportedly taken measures to ban food imports from Japan.
These measures were taken because of difficulty in differentiating food items originating in Fukushima from those coming from elsewhere in Japan. Reports also said some vegetables imported from Japan to Taiwan were found to be contaminated.
Taking note of these reports, the FSSAI advised the three-month suspension saying said fruits and vegetables, fish, milk and dairy items appear to be the most hazardous items as they are prone to radioactive contamination. It said radioactive contamination of food imports is a risk which is unacceptable in the interest of food safety of the Indian people due to the incidence of accumulated carcinogenic (capable of causing cancer) effects.
The FSSAI cautioned against the possibility of illegal import of contaminated food items and recommended that these be monitored through market surveys. It also said the testing and monitoring capacities in India need to be upgraded.