Foodlaw-Reading
Dr David Jukes, The University of Reading, UK
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Commission Consultation, 5 July 2017
The Commission has published a draft Regulation for consultation. The following are the introductory recitals in the document. The full draft Regulation is available on this site as well a document containing draft new Annexes. The consultation closes on the 2nd August 2017. For more details, see: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say_en
(1) Article 53 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 provides for the possibility to adopt appropriate Union emergency measures for food and feed imported from a third country in order to protect public health, animal health or the environment, where the risk cannot be contained satisfactorily by means of measures taken by the Member States individually.
(2) Following the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power station on 11 March 2011, the Commission was informed that radionuclide levels in certain food products originating in Japan exceeded the action levels in food applicable in Japan. Such contamination may constitute a threat to public and animal health in the Union and therefore Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 297/20112 was adopted. That Regulation was replaced by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 961/20113 which was later replaced by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 284/20124. The latter was replaced by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 996/20125 which was later replaced by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 322/20146 and which was in turn replaced by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2016/67.
(3) Since Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2016/6 provides that the measures provided therein are to be reviewed by 30 June 2016 and in order to take into account the further development of the situation and occurrence data for 2015 and 2016 on radioactivity in feed and food, it is appropriate to amend Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2016/6.
(4) Council Regulation (Euratom) 2016/528 repeals Council Regulation (Euratom) No 3954/879 and Commission Regulation (Euratom) No 770/9010 and therefore it is appropriate to amend the references to these Regulations accordingly.
(5) The existing measures have been reviewed taking into account more than 132 000 occurrence data on radioactivity in feed and food other than beef and more than 527 000 occurrence data on radioactivity in beef, provided by the Japanese authorities concerning the fifth and sixth growing season (January 2015 until December 2016) after the accident.
(6) The data submitted by the Japanese authorities provide evidence that no exceedance of the maximum levels of radioactivity were observed in feed and food originating from Akita during the fifth and sixth growing season after the accident and it is no longer necessary to require the sampling and analysis of feed and food originating in the prefectures of Akita regarding the presence of radioactivity before export to the Union.
(7) For feed and food products originating in the prefecture of Fukushima, taking into account the occurrence data provided by the Japanese authorities for 2014, 2015 and 2016, it is appropriate to lift the requirement of sampling and analysis before export to the Union for rice and products derived thereof. For the other feed and food originating in that prefecture, it is appropriate to maintain the requirement of sampling and analysis before export to the Union.
(8) As regards the prefectures of Gunma, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Miyagi, Iwate and Chiba, it is currently required to sample and analyse mushrooms, fishery products and certain edible wild plants and the processed and derived products thereof, before export to the Union. The occurrence data for the fifth and sixth growing season provide evidence that for some of those feed and food commodities originating from certain prefectures, it is appropriate to no longer require sampling and analysis before export to the Union. (9) As regards the prefectures of Akita, Yamagata and Nagano, it is currently required to sample and analyse mushrooms and certain edible wild plants and the processed and derived products thereof before export to the Union. The occurrence data for the fifth and sixth growing season provide evidence that it is no longer necessary to require the sampling and analysis of feed and food originating in the prefecture of Akita and it is appropriate to no longer require sampling and analysis before export to the Union for some of the edible wild plants from the prefectures of Yamagata and Nagano.
(10) The occurrence data from the fifth and sixth growing season provide evidence that it is appropriate to maintain the requirement for sampling and analysis before export to the Union for mushrooms originating from the prefectures of Shizuoka, Yamanashi and Niigata.
(11) Taking into account the occurrence data from the fifth and sixth growing season, it is appropriate to structure the provisions of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2016/6 in a manner that prefectures of which the same feed and food has to be sampled and analysed before export to the Union are grouped together.
(12) The controls performed at import show that the special conditions provided for by Union law are correctly implemented by the Japanese authorities and non-compliance has not been found at import controls for more than five years. Therefore, it is appropriate to keep the low frequency of controls at import.
(13) It is appropriate to provide for a review of the provisions of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2016/6 when the results of sampling and analysis on the presence of radioactivity of feed and food of the seventh and eight growing season (2017 and 2018) after the accident are available, i.e. by 30 June 2019.
(14) Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2016/6 should therefore be amended accordingly.
(15) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,
