New Power Party (NPP) Chairwoman Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) yesterday called on the government to screen for strontium-90 in seafood imported from some areas of Japan.
The Cabinet on Feb. 21 lifted a ban on the importation of food and agricultural products from five Japanese prefectures that was implemented following the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster in 2011.
Chen, who is also a legislator, told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan that the Cabinet’s actions failed to live up to its promises of adopting standards that would be stricter than international norms and inspecting shipments from the prefectures batch by batch.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Strontium-90 has a long half-life, and prolonged exposure could increase the risk of developing leukemia and bone cancer, she said.
Chen urged the government to emulate South Korea and screen Japanese seafood imports for strontium-90.
She also called on the government to require Japanese exporters to present radiation safety assessment reports should screenings find even minute amounts of radioactive materials, such as certain iodine and cesium isotopes, in their products.
The government should require that labeling show the origins of all materials, Chen said, giving the example that fruit grown in Fukushima and processed into jam in Tokyo would be labeled as originating from Tokyo.
TRANSPARENT LABELING
Transparent labeling would allow Taiwanese consumers to make a fully informed decision, she said.
GMO-free School Campaign cofounder Huang Chia-lin (黃嘉琳) told the news conference that the controversy over the issue of Japanese food imports shows that the nation’s food safety management lacks oversight by an independent, transparent and trustworthy agency, urging the government to establish such a body as soon as possible.
Department of Customs Clearance Affairs Director Liu Fang-chu (劉芳祝) said that examining food imports falls under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The Customs Administration handles cargo and checks whether the contents of a package are the same as declared on the manifest, she said.
“Once the FDA clears a shipment of food imports and we find that it complies with other regulations, the shipment is cleared through customs,” Liu said, adding that if the shipment fails to meet standards, it would either be returned or disposed of.
Additional reporting by CNA
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