1. Japanese food safety management institutions and responsibilities
Japanese law clearly stipulates that the food safety management departments are the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is mainly responsible for the safety of fresh agricultural products and their rough processed products, focusing on the production and processing stages of these agricultural products; The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is responsible for the safety of other foods and imported foods, focusing on the import and circulation stages of these foods. According to the amendment of the new Food Hygiene Law, Japan officially implemented the positive list system in May 2116, that is, it prohibited the circulation of foods containing agricultural chemicals that did not set the maximum residue limit standard and whose content exceeded the unified standard. Japan has established a perfect inspection and supervision system for the quality and safety of agricultural products. There are 48 prefectures (counties) and cities in China, and there are 58 food quality inspection institutions, which are responsible for the monitoring, appraisal and evaluation of agricultural products and food, as well as market access and market supervision and inspection entrusted by various governments. The Consumer Technology Service Center of Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has seven sub-centers, which are responsible for the investigation and analysis of the quality and safety of agricultural products, accepting consumer complaints, and handling the supervision and management of organic food certification and certified products. Consumer Technology Service Center keeps close contact with local agricultural service institutions, collects relevant information and accepts supervision and guidance, forming a multi-level inspection and supervision system for agricultural product quality and safety from farmland to table.
in recent years, food safety crises have occurred frequently in Japan. Especially after the mad cow disease occurred in Japan in 2111, it was discovered that the National Agricultural Association and others maliciously deceived consumers and used false labels to pass off imported meat as domestic meat, which broke the "safety myth" of Japanese food and made people panic about various diseases that may be transmitted to people from food. On July 1, 2113, the Food Safety Committee of the Cabinet Office of Japan was finally formally established after a long period of deliberation. As a result, the Japanese government's functional division of labor on food safety has undergone major changes. Its main responsibility is to carry out food safety risk assessment. It is responsible for organizing or accepting the consultation of the specific management departments (hereinafter referred to as risk management departments) responsible for food safety risks, such as the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Health, and conducting inspection and risk assessment on food safety through scientific analysis. According to the risk assessment results, the risk management department is required to take countermeasures and supervise their implementation. In addition, with the Committee as the core, a risk information communication mechanism with the extensive participation of relevant government agencies, consumers and producers is established, and the risk information communication is comprehensively managed.
The Food Safety Committee of the Cabinet Office of Japan is the highest decision-making body composed of seven members, all of whom are non-governmental experts. With the approval of the National Assembly, they are appointed by the Prime Minister for a term of three years. The special investigation will be composed of 211 special members (including part-time), all of whom are folk experts, with a term of three years. The special investigation will be divided into three evaluation expert groups: ① Chemical substance evaluation group. Responsible for evaluating food additives, pesticides, medicines for animals, packaging of utensils and containers, chemicals, pollutants, etc. ② Biological assessment group. Responsible for evaluating microorganisms, viruses, molds and natural toxins. ③ New Food Evaluation Group. Responsible for the risk assessment of genetically modified foods, feed fertilizers, newly developed foods, etc.
2. Japanese food safety legal system
Japan's food safety legal system consists of basic laws and a series of professional and specialized laws and regulations. The Food Hygiene Law and the Basic Law on Food Safety are two basic laws. The Food Hygiene Law was promulgated in 1948 and has been revised many times, the latest revision was in May 2113. This law is the most important code to control food quality, safety and hygiene in Japan, and it has extremely detailed regulations on all foods, including food, food additives, natural spices, facilities and equipment (excluding those in agriculture and aquaculture) and food packaging containers. The law prohibits the sale of foods containing toxic and harmful substances, or foods that do not meet the existing production and ingredient storage standards, as well as equipment and packaging containers that do not meet the specifications and standards stipulated in the law. Japan promulgated the Basic Law on Food Safety in 2113. The law establishes the food safety concepts of "consumer first", "scientific risk assessment" and "monitoring from farm to table", and requires food safety in every link of the food supply chain imported from home and abroad and allows preventive import embargo.
in Japan, there are many professional and specialized laws and regulations concerning food safety, including food quality and hygiene, quality of agricultural products, quality of inputs (pesticides, veterinary drugs, feed additives, etc.), animal epidemic prevention and plant protection. learning point