. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/JPN/189 
26 July 2007  
 (07-3207) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
 
NOTIFICATION OF EMERGENCY MEASURES  
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   JAPAN
 
If applicable, name of local government involved:    
2. Agency responsible:   Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where applicable):   
- Fish and crustaceans (HS: 03.02 , 03.03, 03.04, 03.06, 03.07) 
- Edible vegetables and certain roots and tubers (HS: 07.01, 07.02, 07.03, 07.04, 
07.05, 07.06, 07.07, 07.08, 07.09, 07.13, 07.14) 
- Edible fruits and nuts, peel of citrus/mel ons (HS: 08.01, 08.02, 08.03, 08.04, 08.05, 
08.06, 08.07, 08.08, 08.09, 08.10, 08.14) 
- Coffee, mate and spices (HS: 09.01, 09. 02, 09.03, 09.04, 09. 05, 09.06, 09.07, 
09.08, 09.09, 09.10)    
- Cereals (HS: 10.01, 10.02, 10.03, 10.04, 10.05, 10.07, 10.08) 
- Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits; miscellane ous grains, seeds and fruits (HS: 12.01, 
 12.02, 12.04, 12.05, 12.06, 12.07, 12.10, 12.11, 12.12, 12.14) 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable :  All 
countries  
5. Title, language and number of pa ges of the notified document:  Revision of the 
standards and specifications for foods and food additives under the Food Sanitation Law 
(Revision of pesticide residue standa rds) (available in English, 5 pages)  
6. Description of content:  Proposed maximum residue limits (MRLs) for cumyluron. 
7. Objective and rationale:  [ X ] food safety, [ ] animal health, [ ] plant protection, [ 
] protect humans from animal/plant pest or  disease, [ ] protect territory from other 
damage from pests    G/SPS/N/JPN/189 
Page 2  
 
  8. Nature of the urgent problem(s) and reason for urgent action:   
(1) Recently, there have been many detections  of the herbicide in fish and shellfish, 
although residues in these food products were not  reported before.  This situation requires 
regulations of the herbicide to assure the safety of aquatic animal foods in order to protect 
public heath.  Japan has to urgently establish MRLs for cumyluron on fish and shellfish, 
based on scientific data. 
(2) The herbicide is not used for the fo od plants in countries other than Japan. 
(3) By this activity, we will withdraw the MRLs for cumyluron on some crops.  These 
crops are, however, not target plants registered on the Agricultural Chemicals Regulation Law as those for which cumyluron is permitted to  be used.  Also, for the crops, the uniform 
tolerance limit (0.01 ppm) should have been set at the time the positive list system was 
introduced, however, considering the LOQ (limit of quantification) at that time, a level 
higher than the uniform limit was set.  Im proved testing methods have enabled the 
herbicide to be determined to the level of 0.01 ppm. 
(4) The MRL for rice, which is only target crop registered based on the law, will not 
be changed. 
9. International standard, guideline or recommendation:  
[ ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [ ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [ ] International Plant Protection Convention, [ X ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the 
appropriate reference and briefly identify deviations:    
10. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:   Food Sanitation 
Law (available in English).  When adopted , these MRLs are to be published in "KAMPO" 
(Official Government Gazette) (available in Japanese). 
11. Date of entry into force/period of application (as applicable):  End of August 2007 
12. Agency or authority designated to handl e comments: [ ] National notification 
authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:    
13. Texts available from: [ ] National notification authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: