China Expands Prohibited Food & Agric. Imports from Japan

In order to ensure the quality and safety of foods and agricultural products imported from Japan, on the evening of April 8, 2011, China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine (AQSIQ) issued an announcement again to expand the prohibited varieties and producing areas of foods and agricultural products imported from Japan, further strengthening the supervision on inspection and quarantine of such imports.

Since the influence of Fukushima nuclear accident on quality and safety of foods and agricultural products is expanding both in breadth and depth, and many countries and regions also continue strengthening precautionary measures on Japanese goods, the AQSIQ orders that, from April 8, 2011, any food, edible agricultural and feed imports shall be prohibited from 12 Japanese prefectures/cities including Fukushima, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Yamagata, Niigata, Nagano, Yamanashi, Saitama, Chiba and Tokyo.

On March 24, 2011, China's AQSIQ ever announced the prohibition from importing from Japan's Fukushima, Tochigi, Gunma, Ibaraki and Chiba.

The AQSIQ orders that importers of food, edible agricultural products and feeds from other Japanese areas shall also provide documents issued by Japanese government agencies while applying for quality inspection/quarantine at customs across China, and required documents shall include certificates for radioactivity-free inspection and for places of origin.

Chinese local quality inspection/quarantine organizations should carry out radioactive tests over imported food, edible agricultural products and feeds from Japan and may conduct release for those imports up to standards. However, imports of the kinds from Japan failing to meet the standards should be stopped from entering Chinese market and be made known to the public.

Local inspection/quarantine organizations should also run a registration of all overseas exporters or agents for exporting from Japan to China.

Additionally, the importers of Japanese food products should establish a tracking system for imports and marketing, keeping for the record such details as name of the food, date of manufacture, shelf life, and buyers' or exporters' information for further contact.