The Centre for Food Safety said today that it has taken follow-up action in response to media reports on the illegal import of food products to Taiwan from five prefectures in Japan prohibited by Taiwanese authorities.
According to the website of Taiwan authorities, the food items were not covered by an import ban imposed by Hong Kong.
Following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant incident, the centre enhanced radiation testing on food imported from Japan. More than 240,000 samples have been tested so far.
Three vegetable samples from Chiba were deemed unsatisfactory on March 23, 2011, while the rest of the samples were satisfactory, officials said.
To address public concerns, the centre is contacting major supermarkets and chain retail outlets to learn if the products have been imported to Hong Kong. If the products are found, it will step up sample-taking for radiation tests.
The centre will also enhance inspections at import and retail level to see if information provided on the food labels of Japanese food imports - such as place of origin - is consistent with that provided by traders.
Food safety officials will continue to closely monitor the situation and keep in close contact with Taiwanese authorities over the issue and take appropriate action to safeguard public health.
In response to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant incident in Japan, the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department banned the import of fruit, vegetables, milk, milk beverages and milk powder from the five most affected prefectures: Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Chiba and Gunma.
The import of all chilled or frozen game, meat and poultry, poultry eggs, and all live, chilled or frozen aquatic products from the five prefectures are also prohibited, unless accompanied by a certificate issued by the Japanese authorities certifying that the radiation levels do not exceed the limit.
