While India has decided to stop scanning Japanese food imports after five years of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011, US, Germany, Turkey, Russia and Australia still scans all products coming in from Japan.
Food products from Japan that run the risk of being contaminated by radioactive substance will now get an easy access into India as the Centre has decided to discontinue the scanning of these items. Even after five years of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011, reports indicate that food products from Japan carry the risk of radioactive contamination that can lead to various forms of cancer. Several other countries are still following a strict mechanism to keep a check on Japanese food imports, but the Indian government feels otherwise.
The imports' division of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) under the Union Health Ministry has recently issued an order saying, "The advisory dated 15.03.2011 issued regarding monitoring of food articles imported from Japan for radioactive contamination, issued earlier as a temporary measure in 2011, is hereby withdrawn." The order has been conveyed to the customs department and the food safety commissioners of all states.
The abrupt end to the practice has, however, alarmed experts. "The Indian government should not have stopped the screening because the kind of nuclear disaster that happened in Japan can still have its effects. Five years is not enough time to decide that food products from Japan are free from radiation and will be safe in the future," said a senior radiation oncologist based in a government hospital in Delhi.
Items like sea food, vegetable seeds, confectionery, fruits and vegetables are imported to India from Japan.
Pawan Kumar Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), FSSAI, told Mail Today that the screening of food items was unnecessarily delaying the process of imports from Japan. "All the food products from Japan were under strict surveillance for the past five years for any radioactive contamination. However, no food product was found to be contaminated with any radioactive substance. So, we decided to stop the monitoring because it is not required anymore," Agarwal said.
The move by the Indian government can be seen as an attempt to bolster the already strong business and cultural ties with Japan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Japan in 2014 and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe returned the favour with a Delhi visit in 2015 - putting in place a new chapter of Indo-Japan ties.
The withdrawal of scanning of food items from Japan comes even as the United States Food and Drug Administration continues to monitor Japanese food imports for any likely radioactive presence. Along similar lines, countries like Germany, Turkey and Russia also scan all imports from Japan. There are also checks on vessels and containers from Japan for any radioactive contamination by the US, the Netherlands and the EU. Australia, which imports automobiles from Japan, also keeps a strict check on radiation. In March 2015, radiation was found in sample of green tea imported from Japan to the US. A study by Stanford University and Stony Brook University on radioactive levels in the Pacific Ocean found high levels of radioactive contamination in Bluefin tuna caught off the shores of California.
Recently, a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the US stated that freshwater fish and ocean bottom dwellers around Fukushima are at a higher risk of radioactive contamination compared to most other types of ocean fish in the same area.
In 2011 a massive earthquake in Japan lead to radioactive leaks from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plants. Radioactive isotopes were released from the reactor containment vessels and discharged into the sea. Trace quantities of radioactive particles from the incident, including iodine-131 and caesium-134/137, have since been detected around the world.
Caesium-137 has a half-life of about 30.17 years and if enters human body it can cause cellular damage and potentially lead to cancer. "Half life of Caesium-137 is around 30 years which means it takes 30 years for the radioactivity of the Caesium-137 isotope to fall to half its original value," says a Delhi-based senior radiation specialist.
No comments:
Post a Comment