China imposes de facto ban on Japanese food imports: sources

[jpak]

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110416p2g00m0dm013000c.html

BEIJING (Kyodo) -- China has effectively halted the import of all food and agricultural products from Japan due to concerns over radiation contamination, despite ostensibly only banning such items from 12 prefectures of eastern Japan, sources familiar with Sino-Japanese relations said Friday.

China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine has since April 8 been requiring that importers of food and agricultural products provide it with documents issued by the Japanese government when applying for quality inspection and quarantine at customhouses across China, including certificates for radioactivity-free inspection and for places of origin.

But Japan currently has no central government agencies that issue such documents.

It has asked China to instead accept documents issued by private inspection organizations that certify food items do not contain radiation above allowed levels, and to accept certificates of origin issued by local governments instead of by the central government.

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looks like someone does not believe the Happy Talk

[PearliePoo2]

1. LOL! ....when China, of all countries, is concerned about food quality...

you KNOW it's got to be REALLY FUBAR!

[jpak]

2. yup

n/t

[crickets]

3. "Japan currently has no central government agencies that issue such documents"

They had better get one. Quickly. Scattered private inspection is not going to cut it given the magnitude of the situation. Unfortunately, with everything else the Japanese government is trying to deal with after the disaster, it's understandable that this hasn't been a top issue before now. For the sake of their economy, they really do need to do something about it.

[aquart]

5. Would you believe such a document?

Right now, what product coming out of Japan would you be willing to touch? Would you eat off plates made this week in Japan? Would you sit in a car made next week in Japan?

How about a lovely new TV?

Fukushima is NOT under control. The government and TEPCO reports are no longer trusted. What would you buy from Japan that you would keep in your home with your children?

Now plenty of people haven't been paying attention so I'm going to assume it won't bother them.

But others have. And we don't know exactly how big Japan is or how precisely fallout spreads...but if the government of Japan is having trouble convincing its own people to eat Japanese-grown food...

Myself, I'm the nervous type. I'd want to see a geiger counter's reaction to anything from Japan. Think I'm the only one?

[xchrom]

4. and the hits just keep on coming. nt