Japan considers criminalising food mislabelling
Date: 19-Apr-02
Country: JAPAN
Author: Tim Large
Under current Japanese law, criminal charges can only be brought against producers caught falsely touting food grown with pesticides or agrichemicals as organic.
"In light of the recent meat mislabelling cases, we're considering expanding those strict regulations to other products as well," a ministry official said.
Japan's food sector has been rocked by a slew of false-packaging revelations that have shattered faith in safety standards and raised questions over the government's ability to protect the public interest.
Earlier this year, Snow Brand Food Co Ltd , Japan's sixth-largest meat packer, admited to mislabelling imported beef as domestic to get its hands on government money aimed at helping the local industry cope with an outbreak of mad cow disease.
Other firms have since been caught in similar scams, fanning fears that cases such as the Snow Brand scandal could be just the tip of the iceberg.
Snow Brand Food said in February it would be forced to shut up shop by late April due to plummeting sales.
The Farm Ministry this week ordered Marubeni Chikusan Co, a unit of trading house Marubeni Corp , to investigate a chicken mislabelling scandal that domestic media said could involve 80 percent of the meat producer's regional sales headquarters.
The official said the ministry was considering introducing legislation to extend the tough sanctions applied to organic food to other products including beef, pork and chicken.
The Japan Agricultural Standard Law, revised last April, stipulates that land must be free of artificial fertilisers and chemicals for a minimum of three years before produce can be designated organic.
Producers caught making false use of the JAS label, which has become a badge of authenticity in Japan's rapidly expanding organic sector, can be punished with heavy fines or even prison sentences.