L 92/16 Official Journal of the European Union 30.3.2012 COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) No 284/2012 of 29 March 2012 imposing special conditions governing the import of feed and food originating in or consigned from Japan following the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power station and repealing Implementing Regulation (EU) No 961/2011 (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety ('), and in particular Article 53(1)(b)(ii) thereof, Whereas: (1) Article 53 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 provides for the possibility to adopt appropriate Union emergency measures for food and feed imported from a third country in order to protect public health, animal health or the environment, where the risk cannot be contained satisfactorily by means of measures taken by the Member States individually. Following the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power station on 11 March 2011, the Commission was informed that radionuclide levels in certain food products originating in Japan exceeded the action levels in food applicable in Japan. Such contamination may constitute a threat to public and animal health in the Union and therefore Commission Implementing Regu- lation (EU) No 297/2011 of 25 March 2011 imposing special conditions governing the import of feed and food originating in or consigned from Japan following the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power station (2 was adopted. That Regulation was later replaced by Commission  Implementing  Regulation (EU) No 9612011 (). The Japanese authorities have provided information to the Commission that in the many samples taken of sake and other spirit drinks (whiskey and shochu) no radioactivity was detected in all samples. The process of polishing, fermentation and distillation removes the radioactivity nearly completely from the spirit drink itself. The issue will be followed-up based on the continued monitoring of sake, whiskey and shochu by the Japanese authorities. It is therefore appropriate to exclude sake, whiskey and shochu from the scope of 1, 1.2.2002, p. 1. o L3 0] L 80, 26.3.2011, p. 5. o L2 52, 28.9.2011, p. 10. this Regulation in order to reduce the administrative burden for the Japanese authorities and the competent authorities of the importing Member States. The Japanese authorities have adopted on 24 February 2012 new maximum levels for the sum of caesium-134 and caesium-137, to be applied as from 1 April 2012, with transitional measures foreseen for rice, beef and soybean and processed products thereof, which are lower than the maximum levels established by Council Regulation (Euratom) No 3954/87 of 22 December 1987 laying down maximum permitted levels of radio- active contamination of foodstuffs and of feedingstuffs following a nuclear accident or any other case of radio- logical emergency (*). The transitional measures for beef have no relevance for the import into the Union as the import of beef from Japan into the Union is not allowed for animal and public health reasons other than radio- activity. The Japanese authorities also informed the Commission that products that are not allowed to be placed on the Japanese market are also not allowed to be exported. It is therefore appropriate, although there is no need for safety reasons, in order to provide consistency between the pre-export controls performed by the Japanese authorities and the controls on the level of radionuclides performed on feed and food originating in or consigned from Japan at the entry into the Union, to apply the same maximum levels in the Union for radionuclides in feed and food from Japan as the maximum levels applicable in Japan as long as these are lower than the values established in Regulation (Euratom) No 3954/87. Shortly after the nuclear accident, controls were required for the presence of iodine-131 and the sum of caesium- 134 and caesium-137 in feed and food originating from Japan, as there was evidence that the release of radio- activity into the environment was related to a very large part to iodine-131, caesium-134 and caesium-137, and there was only very limited or no emission of the radio- nuclides strontium (Sr-90), plutonium (Pu-239) and americium (Am-241). lodine-131 has a short half-life of 8 days and because there were no releases of radio- activity from the affected nuclear power plant into the environment in recent months and the affected nuclear reactor is now in a stable situation and no further releases to the environment are expected, iodine-131 is no longer present in the environment and consequently also not in feed and food from Japan. Therefore the control for the presence of iodine-131 was no longer required by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1371/2011 of 21 December 2011 amending Imple- menting Regulation (EU) No 961/2011 imposing special (*) OJ L 371, 30.12.1987, p. 11.