"CEAC Commentary" introduces news analyses andopinions in Japan on the concept of an East AsianCommunity, but they do not represent the views of CEAC as
an institution.
March 12, 2008

Establishment of a “Food Safety” system in East Asia
By YASUE Noriko
It is possible to enjoy a variety of food products from all over the world in Japan. Especially inrecent years, the popularity of Asian food products is increasing. On the other hand, there is theincreasing unrest about the safety of those imported food products. In that respect, there is a lot to learn
from the food safety system called “From the Farm to the Fork” established by the European Union(EU) which already implemented regional market liberalization, including that of agricultural products.
Although the EU implemented common agricultural policies, and enjoyed the regional market
liberalization from the 1960s, it was only in the late 1990s that an awareness regarding the safety ofagricultural products started to be highly recognized. In 1996, cases of human infection of BSE weredetected in the EU. Moreover in 1999, it was due to an outbreak of dioxin contaminated poultry
livestock in Belgium that the safety assurance of livestock and food products became an urgent issue.
In 2002, the EU adopted food safety regulations, which indicated duties and obligations of the member
nations and companies, and decided to establish the “European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).”EFSA is an organization whose role is to assess and communicate the risks associated with foodsafety. More specifically, EFSA provides the highest level of scientific advices to policy makers as wellas provides such information to the public. In the case of the EU, where market linearization of farm
produce and food products has already been realized, it is still a hard decision to prohibit thedistribution of those products even when doubts arise regarding their safety. For that reason, theestablishment of a scientific advisory council, independent of national interests, became indispensable.
If there are suspicions concerning the safety of a certain produce, it is important that consumers areable to obtain objective information without being dominated by the media and decide whether or not
to import this certain product independent from the administration’s decision. Likewise, this broadconcept, which takes into account the influence that these food safety regulations by the EFSA haveover the next generations, is also new.
In dealing with the BSE problem, Japan itself, learned a great deal from the EU’s food safety
regulations, attaching a greater importance to the traceability of food ingredients. EFSA plays aimportant role by providing analytical results not only in Europe but all over the world. Japan extended
its support to East Asian countries during the outbreak of the Avian Influenza; however, taking into
account the future promotion of the regional liberalization of farm produce and food products, I would
like to see Japan take the initiative towards the establishment of a more integrated, comprehensive foodsafety system following the EFSA model.
(This is the English translation of an article written by Dr. YASUE Noriko, Professor, Ritsumeikan
University, which originally appeared on the BBS “Hyakka-Somei” of CEAC on February 5, 2008.)