Implementation of “Imported Foods Monitoring Plan for FY 2015”
We appreciate your efforts to realize and smoothly implement the monitoring inspections on imported foods based on the annexed Imported Foods Monitoring and Guidance Plan for FY 2015.
Separate instructions shall be given on the inspection reinforcement during the current interim FY, which will be conducted when the Food Sanitation Act concerning residual agricultural chemicals has been violated.
Annex
Imported Foods Monitoring Plan for FY 2015
I. Implementation Guidelines for Monitoring Inspections Concerning Imported Foods (common items)
1. Implementation period
From April 1, 2015, to March 31, 2016
2. Targets
(1) Targeted foods
A. Foods listed in Schedule 1, excluding the foods indicated below.
(a) Defective items
(b) Returned shipments
(c) Foods reported by customs officers as having a food sanitation problem
(d) Food that are being imported into Japan for the first time
B. Also targeted are: i) foods with an inspection report issued by an inspection organization registered with the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, or by an official inspection organization in other country; ii) foods registered on a pre-checking system for imported foods; and iii) the same foods that are continuously imported, with previous inspection reports.
(2) Items to be inspected
Regarding the food groups specified in Schedule 1, inspection must be conducted on items specified in ordinances or notifications of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, i.e. additives, toxic and hazardous substances, and pathogenic microorganisms, etc.
(3) Number of specimens
Follow the guidelines in Schedule 1, and develop an annual plan for systematic implementation of the inspections, based on the items and numbers to be inspected for each food type, assigned separately, to each quarantine station by the Office of Quarantine Stations Administration, Policy Planning and Communication Division (hereinafter referred to as the “Administration Office”).
If an inspection is deemed necessary in consideration of the situation with regard to importation or violation of the Food Sanitation Act (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”), and/or information on raw materials, the processing method, etc. contained in the import declarations for items whose import volume has surged compared to an average year or items whose import has been newly approved, an inspection should be implemented at any time, regardless of Schedule 1.
Further, the enhanced monitoring inspections upon the discovery of a violation of the Act concerning residual agricultural chemicals of which the frequency is increased by 30% shall follow Schedule 2, whereas instructions given to manufacturers, processing plants, exporters, and packagers to conduct voluntary inspections whenever they import the relevant items after violating relevant Acts shall follow Schedule 3.
In principle, inspections will be carried out in line with the usual monitoring system after one year has passed from the day enhanced monitoring was enforced and/or after 60 or more enhanced inspections have found that the same violation has not been committed again. Schedule 2 and/or Schedule 3 will be revised when usual monitoring resumes.
3. Inspection methods
(1) Collection of specimens
Specimens shall be collected according to Schedule 4 to 6, in line with Article 28 of the Act. The specimens shall be collected from randomly selected inspection targets, under instructions from the food sanitation inspectors, so that the specimens will be appropriately representative of the entire lot.
Specimens shall be collected according to the standard operating procedures for specimen handling, and the collection methods, the cargo types of collected products, and indications on them shall be recorded in detail.
(2) Methods of testing
Select an appropriate method from the methods listed below, in consideration of the properties of each food, and perform the inspection accurately and promptly according to the standard operating procedures.
A. Testing methods defined by the Specification and Standards for Foods and Food Additives (Notification No. 370 of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 1959) (hereinafter referred to as the “notified method”)
B. Testing methods defined by the Ministerial Ordinance Concerning the Standards for Constituents of Milk and Milk Products (Ministerial Ordinance No. 52 of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 1951)
C. Testing methods defined by the Notices from Directors of Food Safety Departments in the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
D. Testing methods described in “Inspection Guidelines for Food Sanitation”, supervised by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
E. Testing methods described in “Standard Methods of Analysis for Hygienic Chemists, Annotation”, edited by the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan
F. Other reliable testing methods such as the AOAC methods
In addition to the testing methods listed above, testing may be conducted using a method possessing specificity, and also a performance equivalent or superior in terms of accuracy, precision and quantitation limit compared to testing methods indicated in notices, etc.
4. Delivery of specimens to testing institutions
Specimens collected by quarantine stations shall be delivered, in storage conditions appropriate for testing, to the individual divisions in charge of inspection, as separately specified by the Administration Office or the trustee agreement signed at the quarantine stations.
Sufficient prior coordination with the representative of the receiving organization shall be carried out, so that the specimens are sent and received appropriately and that the testing of them can be carried out smoothly.
5. Reporting results
If a violation is found in the monitoring inspection, importers should be provided with instructions to confirm the cargo status, and quarantine station should report promptly to the Office of Import Food Safety with the form for reporting violations of the Act.
6. Other precautions
(1) Sampling of inspection targets
It should be noted that: import declarations should be randomly selected to perform the relevant monitoring inspections; inspections should not be biased towards certain importers or otherwise, nor may inspections be canceled at the request of the importer.
(2) Collection of specimens from bulk cargo
For grains, beans and other products in bulk, it is necessary to take measures including instructing the importers to make declarations prior to the arrival of cargo so that the importation status can be identified in sufficient time.
Also obtain information as to the time and place available for the collection of inspection specimens, and the destination(s) of cargo in the same hold, to develop collection plans promptly, and notify the relevant importers of them.
(3) Inspection on residual agricultural chemicals in processed foods (excluding simple processing)
A. Half of collected specimens shall be evenly homogenized for inspections as product, and the rest shall be stored without homogenization.
B. If residual agricultural chemicals are detected as a result of an inspection, the cause of detection shall be confirmed, and the conformity to the Specification and Standards shall be determined upon consideration of the standard value for residuals in raw materials, composition of ingredients, and production and processing method, etc.
C. In the cases where a cause of detection from the product is unknown or where inspection at product level is difficult, inspection shall be individually carried out on physically separable ingredients.
II. Implementation Guidelines for Monitoring Inspection of Livestock and Aquatic Foods
1. Targeted foods
(1) Livestock and aquatic foods, and their processed products
A. Meat (including internal organs)
B. Processed meat products
C. Cheeses and other milk/dairy products
D. Honey-related products (honey, royal jelly, pollen, etc.)
E. Aquatic foods (fish (such as eel, salmon/trout and flounder), aquatic animals (such as prawns, squid and octopus), and shellfish, etc.)
(2) Items to be inspected and the number of specimens
A. Antibiotics, etc.
Items subject to inspections are as listed in Schedule 7 and inspections are performed on the items subject to analysis as described in each test method. The number of inspections is as listed in Schedule 1.
B. Residual agricultural chemicals
Items subject to inspections are as listed in Schedule 8 and inspections are performed on the items subject to analysis as described in each test method. The number of inspections is as listed in Schedule 1.
Number of inspections: Whale meat-59 inspections
C. Others
(a) Paralytic Shellfish Poison, Diarrheic Shellfish Poison
Number of Inspections: Bivalves (excluding scallops consisting of adductor muscle only) - 178 inspections; Shellfish other than bivalves - 29inspections
(b) Mercury
Number of Inspections: Fish and shellfish - 299 inspections
(c) PCB
Number of Inspections: Beef - 59 inspections; Pork - 59 inspections; Fish and shellfish - 147 inspections
(d) Pufferfish being mixed
Number of Inspections: Dried thread-sail filefish product - 5 inspections; Sliced anglerfish and/or its internal organs - 5 inspections
2. Inspection methods
(1) Collection of specimens
A. Collect the specimens as specified in “Residual hazardous substances in livestock and aquatic foods” in Schedule 4 for antibiotics, etc, residual agricultural chemicals (excluding high grade processed food), mercury, PCB, paralytic shellfish poison, diarrheic shellfish poison and pufferfish being mixed.
B. In principle, the collected specimens shall be delivered to the testing institution in a frozen state and handled accordingly.
(2) Methods of testing
Regarding any items to be inspected which are not indicated below, testing shall be carried out according to the notified method or “Testing Methods for Constituent Substances of Residual Agricultural Chemicals,