Japanese government responds to food crises

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi decided on Tuesday to submit a basic food safety bill in the next fiscal year in a bid to erase widespread public distrust stemming from the government's failure to keep mad cow disease out of Japan, writes the BBC.

At a cabinet meeting relating to food safety, Koizumi also decided to set up an independent commission of experts to oversee food safety administration, and appointed National Public Safety Commission Chairman Jin Murai to be minister in charge.

Murai will take charge of planning and preparing for the establishment of the commission, according to a government statement released to the press.

The Cabinet Secretariat the same day set up a preparatory office for drafting the legislation and setting up the commission, with senior officials from the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry and the Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry taking part.

Following the decisions, farm minister Tsutomu Takebe told a press conferenc: "We would like to restore as early as possible the people's trust, which has been greatly shaken by the outbreak of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) and the spate of food labelling scandals."​

The ministers decided to scrap parts of government bodies, including the Food Agency, which mainly deals with rice-supply control, so that the planned commission will not lead to a larger government. They will also separate risk management divisions in the two ministries from industry promotion sections.

The government will submit to the next ordinary Diet session to convene in January bills to legislate the planned basic law and revise related laws to ensure food safety and protect consumers, the statement says.

In the envisioned basic law, the government plans to make clear that supplier companies take "primary charge" of food safety, while consumers will also be given the opportunity to actively contribute to government measures and express opinions.

It will stipulate the introduction of risk analysis before the government determine any food-related measures, with the planned commission charged to carry it out on the basis of the latest scientific findings, according to the statement.

The bill will also call on the government to take provisional risk-management measures promptly and appropriately if they are deemed necessary from a preventive viewpoint, it said.

The commission will be charged with evaluating health risks and any other hazards of all foodstuffs, except for drugs, and to recommend the government and local authorities to take appropriate risk-management measures.

It will also check that the government and local authorities implement these measures, hear opinions directly from consumers, and gather information on harmful foods in and outside the country, the statement said.