G/SPS/GEN/1233/Rev.2  
 
1 July 2020 
(20-4559) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
CURRENT STATUS AFTER  THE NUCLEAR POWER P LANT ACCIDENT  
COMMUNICATION FROM JAPAN  
Revision  
The following communication, received on 25 June 2020 , is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Japan . 
 
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ABSTRACT  
In response to the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co. Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear  Power  Station  in 
2011, Japan has taken a comprehensive approach in securing food safety. The accumulated monitoring 
data demonstrates that the contamination level is very low and Japanese food has been safe for the 
public. The joint FAO/IAEA Division has evaluated that Japan 's measures and response against 
radionuclide contamination in  food are appropriate and that the food supply chain is controlled 
effectively.  Majority of the countries and regions which provisionally introduced import measures on 
Japanese food has lifted them based on the scientific evidence, and the number of countr ies and 
regions which still maintain the measures are reduced to 20. Given  the provided  evidence, there is no 
need to impose  additional  import control measures and Japan calls on  Members to remove existing 
measures.  
1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  In response  to the accident  at Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear  Power  
Station  (NPS)  in March  2011, 54 countries  and regions  introduced  import  measures  on Japanese food  
products , and 34 have lifted them based on objective assessment. However, 20 countries  and regions  
still maintain import measures, such as import bans, additional test requirement and certificates, and  
non-detectable  level tolerance  at border  inspection  tests. 
1.2.  This document updates the situation of radioactivity surrounding Japanes e food, nine years after 
the accident at the NPS.  In particular , this paper  updates  the risk management  measures taken to 
secure food safety and to prevent environmental impacts from the NPS, and the resulting monitoring 
data, so that a more objective asse ssment of risk and review of the import measures on Japanese 
food provisionally adopted by the Members would be  facilitated.  
2  FOOD SAFETY CONTROL AND STATUS OF SAFETY  IN JAPANESE FOOD  
2.1.  Japan,  soon after the accident,  started  decontamination  such as of the crop land and fruit trees, 
control over feeds and agricultural inputs and introduced  a risk -based food monitoring scheme. 
The effective dose from dietary intake has  also been surveyed.  
2.2.  Japanese maximum permissible levels for radioactive caesium in food ( JMLs)1 were set to meet 
the intervention exemption level of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), 1mSv/year, a level 
 
1 JMLs are 50Bq/kg for milk and infant food and 10Bq/kg for drinking water and 100Bq/kg for other food 
products.  G/SPS/GEN/1233/Rev.2  
 
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  considered as safe for the public, and in consideration of the released nuclides and with highly 
conservative and hypothetical assumptio ns in the safe side, including that 50% of the food intake is 
contaminated. Accordingly, the JML for food in general is set as 100 Bq/ kg2, while the corresponding 
Codex guideline level is 1,000 Bq/kg and even 10,000 Bq/kg can be adopted for food with small  
consumption (CXS  193-1995).  
2.3.  The monitoring has covered a wide variety of food products including that consumed in large 
amounts and with elevated concentration of radionuclides in consideration of the effective dose. The 
monitoring plans have been annually revised , reflecting the past test results, focusing on t he products 
with higher concentration. Testing samples have been reduced3, especially in farm products, due to 
undetectable level of concentrations.  
2.4.  All of the recent monitoring results in marketed food products remain far below the Codex 
guideline level a nd non -compliance cases continue to be minimal .4 The national laws  mandate that  
food products exceed ing the stringent JMLs are recalled  and disposed of , and their shipment is 
suspended. If there are exceeding  cases in a particular food product over an area , Japan suspends 
shipment of the products from the area.  Japan 's regulatory framework thus prevent s the food products 
exceeding the JMLs from n either entering  the food chain  nor being exported.  
2.5.  The test results of Japanese food products  at the destination countries, detected non -compliance 
with the Codex guideline level only soon after the accident5, and non -compliance with the JMLs has 
not been detected for more than 6 years .6 
2.6.  The total dietary study  conducted since September 2011 at plural sites including Fukushima 
shows that the estimated annual effective dose from food intake remains digits smaller than the 
intervention exemption level of the Codex .7 Both food monitoring and dietary exposure assessm ent 
provide consistent evidence to confirm  the effectiveness of the control system in Japan and the safety 
of Japanese food products . 
2.7.  The Joint FAO/IAEA  Division  stated  in September  2019,  " the situation with regard to the safety 
of the food supply, fisher y and agricultural production remain stable " and Japan's  "measures  to monitor  
and respond to issues regarding radionuclide contamination of food are appropriate, and that the food 
supply chain is controlled effectively by the relevant  authorities".  
3  WATER M ANAGEMENT AT TEPCO F UKUSHIMA  DAIICHI  NUCLEAR  POWER  STATION AND 
THE SEA AREA MONITOR ING RESULTS  
3.1.  As part of the decommissioning process of the NPS , Japanese government and the TEPCO have 
undertaken substantial measures to safely manage the contaminated water generated in the reactor 
and turbine buildings by groundwater and rainwater inflow. Although the rising rate has been  
significantly reduced, th e water is continuously generated and the water  purified by the multi-nuclide 
removal equipment ( ALPS treated water ) is accumulated  in tanks at the NPS . Currently, towards 
determining its basic policy on the handling of ALPS treated water, Japanese governm ent continues 
to listen to the opinions from the parties concerned including local residents consider ing the re port of 
the advisory committee to the government ( ALPS subcommittee) . 
3.2.  Japan would like to note that regardless of the disposal methods, the water  currently stored in 
tanks and with the concentrations above the regulatory standards for discharge is to be re -purified 
 
2 JMLs are 50Bq/kg for milk and infant food and 10Bq/kg for drinking water and 100Bq/kg for other food 
products.  
3 Approx imately  340 thousand in  JFY 2015 and 280 thousand in JFY 2019. Substantial number of samples 
occupies that from the products before shipment. It also includes samples from the products only for the risk 
assessment and not for shipment.  
4 Monthly data of MHLW published in JFY2019: Cs134+ Cs137: 110-260 Bq/kg, in kind of products with 
local/small consumption such as seasonal wild leaf buds and dried mushroom powder ( 0.05%, out of around 10 
thousand samples ). 
5 The last cases  are: green tea (Cs134: 485 Bq/kg + Cs137: 553  Bq/kg) by France, in June 2011 ; and 
dried mushroom (Cs134: 47Bq/kg + Cs137: 120Bq/kg) by Hong Kong, in August 2013. 
6 The last cases  are: green tea (Cs134: 485 Bq/kg + Cs137: 553  Bq/kg) by France, in June 2011 ; and 
dried mushroom (Cs134: 47Bq/kg + Cs137: 120 Bq/kg) by Hong Kong, in August 2013. 
7 Results of biannual market basket surveys: Effective dose from radioactive caesium was m aximum 
0.0010mSv/year in early 2019, 1/1000 of the intervention exemption level . G/SPS/GEN/1233/Rev.2  
 
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  and diluted to meet those set based on effective dose limit of 1mSv/year, recommended by the 
International Commission on Radiological  Protection , before discharge. Japan regularly receives the 
Peer Review Mission from the IAEA, most recently in April 2020 for the review of the management of 
ALPS treated water and the report of subcommittee. The IAEA acknowledged that the two options 
recom mended by the subcommittee is "technically feasible ". In order to counter the 
miscommunications, Japan would like to clarify that whichever option is to be taken, there is no way  
of releasing contaminated water to the environment. Accordingly, the disposal  has no relevance to the 
safety of Japanese food.  
3.3.  The IAEA provided their assessment on the sea area monitoring results in September 2019 and 
stated "no significant changes were observed in the monitoring results for seawater, sediment and 
marine biota ", "the levels measured by Japan in the marine environment are low and relatively stable. " 
and "that Japanese laboratories monitoring seawater, marine sediment and fish from near the 
Fukushima Daiichi NPS produce reliable data ". 
4  TRANSPARENCY  
4.1.  Japan has been publishing food and environmental monitoring data, as well as relevant 
information and data concerning the NPS, through our English websites described in the "references ". 
The status of seawater around the NPS can be viewed in real -time thro ugh TEPCO website and weekly 
at Nuclear Regulation Authorities ' website.  
5  CONCLUSION  
5.1.  In summary, the evidence shows that Japanese food has been safe for the public for many years 
and we have a very effective control system in place which guarantees trade of  safe food and that 
fulfils the national standard, for both domestic and international market.  
5.2.  Risk of water contamination at NPS is constructively managed and  there  has been no detectable  
change  in marine  environment and the biota. From the accumulated d ata obtained, there is no 
detectable potential of food contamination which raises concerns on food safety, attributable to the 
environmental changes caused by the nuclear  accident.  
5.3.  The joint FAO/IAEA Division has evaluated that Japan 's measures and respons e against 
radionuclide contamination in food are appropriate and that the food supply chain is controlled 
effectively. Japan keeps the monitoring data and relevant information highly transparent and 
continues collaboration with the international organizati ons. 
5.4.  Given the provided evidence, there is no need to impose additional control measures on Japanese 
food products and Japan calls on Members to remove their  measures.  
References  
1) One stop "Reference", Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), Japan  
http://www.maff.go.jp/e/export/reference.html  
Links - Japan  
a. Information on the Great East Japan Earthquake – Food, Ministry of Health, Labour  and 
Welfare  (https://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/topics/2011eq/index_food.html ) 
b. Mid-and-Long-Term Roadmap towards the Decommissioning of TEPCO's Fukushima 
Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Units 1 -4 
(https://www.meti.go.jp/english/earthquake/nuclear/decommissioning/index.html ) 
− b.2. Report of the Subcommittee on Handling of ALPS treated water at TEPCO 's 
Fukus hima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, February 2020, 
https://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/2020/0210_001.html  
c. FACE the FACTS: The Situation of TEPCO 's Fukushima Daiichi NPS (FDNPS) is sta ble 
(https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/files/000564692.pdf ) 
d. BOOKLET to Provide Basic  Information Regarding Health Effects of Radiation,  
Chapter 7 Environmental Monitoring, Ministry of Environment  
(http://www.env.go.jp/en/chemi/rhm/basic -info/index.html ) G/SPS/GEN/1233/Rev.2  
 
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  e. Monitoring information of environmental radioactivity level, Nuclear Regulation 
Authorities  - (https://radioactivity.nsr.go.jp/en/ ) 
f. Radioactive Concentration measured by Seawater Radiation Monitor near Fukushima 
Daiichi Nuclear Power  Station   
(http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima -np/f1/seawater/index -e.html )  
 
Links - International organizations  
2) GENERAL STANDARD FOR CONTAMINANTS AND TOXINS IN FOOD AND FEED 
(CXS 193-1995)  
http://www.fao.org/fao -who-codexalimentarius/codex -texts/list -standards/en/  
3) IAEA, Fukushima Daiichi Status Updates  
https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/focus/fukushima/status -update  
a. IAEA assessment on aspects presented in the July 2019 report "Events and highlights 
on the progress related to recovery operations at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power 
Station",  pp.32-33  
https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/19/09/events -and-highlights -july-2019.pdf  
b. Interlaboratory Comparisons 2014 –2016: Determination of Radionuclides in Sea 
Water, Sediment and Fish, IAEA Analytical Quality in Nuclear Applications Series 
No. 59, 2019  
https://www.iaea.org/publications/13470/interlaboratory -comparisons -2014-2016- 
determination -of-radionuclides -in-sea-water -sediment -and-fish 
4) IAEA Follow -up Review of Progress Made on Management of ALPS Treated Water and the 
Report of the Subcommittee on Handli ng of ALPS treated water at TEPCO 's Fukushima 
Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, REVIEW REPORT TO THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN, Vienna, 
Austria, 2 April 2020   
https://www.iaea.o rg/sites/default/files/20/04/review -report -020420.pdf  
5) Annals of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) , PUBLICATION 
103, The 2007 Recommendations of the International  Commission on Radiological 
Protection , p103 ( Effective dose limit for the public:1mSv in a year ) 
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/ANIB_37_2 -4 
 
 
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