This follows the adoption of emergency legislation by the European Commission on 1 February. Decision 2002/75/EC requires all imports of star anise into the EU from third countries to be subjected to documentary checks to ensure that they have been sampled and analysed, and found not to be contaminated with Japanese star anise. The Japanese variety is similar to Chinese star anise, but contains a toxic component and therefore is not fit for human consumption.
Environmental Health Officers and Port Health Authorities have now been instructed to monitor the import of star anise into the UK and ensure that each consignment has the required documentation to prove that Japanese star anise is not present.