The Department of Agriculture (DA) has lifted additional import requirements on Japanese commodities.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar, in Memorandum Order (MO) No. 01 series of 2020 dated January 8, has declared that the Certificate of Radiation Analysis and Certificate of Origin (CO) are no longer required for imported Japanese commodities, particularly fish, beef, apple, and pear.
The requirements were lifted after the food safety risk assessment by the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards and the ad hoc Task Force on Radionuclide concluded that there is no significant food safety threat from imported fish, beef, apple, and pear from Japan.
Last January 9, Japanese foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi also announced the lifting of the Philippines’ import ban on meat and agricultural products coming from Fukushima prefecture in Japan, nine years after a meltdown occurred in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
READ: PH lifts import freeze on Fukushima meat, agri products
The ban had covered meat, fruit, vegetables, and seafood from affected areas.
In May 2019, the Philippines also withdrew the ban on the importation of several fish species from Fukushima Prefecture, which had likewise been imposed after the nuclear meltdown in the area. The ban had covered species such as cherry salmon, sand lance, Japanese dace, and ayu.
READ: PH ends 7-year import ban on some Japanese fish species
While DA no longer requires the two certificates, the Japanese government should still submit an annual radionuclide monitoring results, certified and signed by its competent authority, to continuously ensure the safety of imported commodities.
MO 01-2020 revokes MOs 14 and 12 issued in 2011 regarding importation of Japanese farm goods.
MO 14 required dairy products and animal feed products not originating from the prefectures of Fukushima and Ibaraki to be accompanied with a CO and a Certificate of Declaration.
MO 12 required that imports of plants, planting materials and plant products from Fukushima be accompanied by a Certificate of Radiation Analysis, and imports from other prefectures, by a CO.
