The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) announced in a statement last night that its inspectors seized two batches of fresh oysters from Miyagi Prefecture, one of the 10 Japanese regions covered by Macau’s current ban on the import of live and fresh food products, at the airport yesterday.
The statement did not reveal how many oysters each batch contained.
According to statement, the importer had indicated that the oysters originated from Iwate Prefecture, which is not among the 10 regions, when applying for an import permit from the local authorities.
Macau’s current ban on the import of live and fresh food products from the 10 Japanese regions took effect on Thursday last week, according to which Macau temporarily bars the import of live and fresh food products, food products of animal origin, sea salt and seaweed from the nine prefectures of Fukushima, Chiba, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Gunma, Miyagi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama as well as Tokyo Metropolis.
The ban was imposed by the local government when the Japanese began to discharge radioactive water from the ill-fated Fukushima nuclear plant in to the sea last Thursday.
The food products covered by the current import ban include vegetables, fruit, milk and dairy products, aquatic products, meat and meat products, and poultry eggs, according to the Macau government’s previous announcements.
According to last night’s statement, the IAM inspectors found the two batches of fresh oysters from Miyagi Prefecture when they were carrying out radiation level tests on food products imported into Macau from Japan. The statement underlined that the Municipal Affairs Bureau has seized the oysters in collaboration with the Macau Customs Service.
The statement noted that this was the first time that Japanese food products covered by Macau’s current import ban have been found here since it took effect on Thursday last week.
According to the statement, the IAM inspectors found that a label on the fresh oysters’ outer packaging indicated that they came from Miyagi Prefecture, instead of Iwate Prefecture as indicated by the importer when applying for an import permit.
The statement urged local importers to strictly abide by the Macau government’s current ban on the import of live and fresh food products from the 10 Japanese regions. In addition, the statement said, local importers should be clearly aware of the sources and origins of the food products that they are importing into Macau.
Moreover, the statement also urged local importers to keep delivery records so that the local authorities can trace the sources and flows of the respective food products when necessary.
Two Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) inspectors conduct a radiation level test on food products imported into Macau from Japan when they were delivered to the airport in Taipa yesterday. – Photo: IAM
