JAPAN FOOD PRODUCTS NEED RADIOACTIVITY CERTIFICATES FROM FRIDAY

KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 (Bernama) - Effective Friday, all Japan food products
are not allowed to enter Malaysia without radioactivity certificates issued by
the Competent Authority of Japan.

Health Minister Liow Lai Ting said the directive has been
conveyed to the Japanese government via the food safety director.

"We have given about one month and now is the time to enforce the
radioactivity certificates. Without them, importers can't bring in Japan food
products into Malaysia.

"Its the responsibility of the Japanese government to ensure that food
products exported are free from radioactive and safe to use," he told reporters
after launching Yuan Carnival 2011 in Bandar Utama, near here Friday.

Liow recounted that when melamine was found in food products here, Tokyo
prohibited entry of food products from Malaysia and asked for immediate issuance
of safety certificates before they were allowed to be exported to Japan.

Malaysian authorities had been conducting checks on Japan food products
since the nuclear scare following the earthquake and tsunami on March 11.

Asked about the adenovirus situation at Army Training Centre (PUSASDA), he
said no new patients were registered, with 84 still under quarantine and two
being treated at Port Dickson Hospital.

On Yuan Carnival, he hopes that it will expose the public to hygiene
practices and healthy living to prevent non-communicable diseases such as kidney
failure, cancer, heart diseases and obesity.