食品安全委員会とリスク分析

摘要

In order to keep our foods safe, Congress passed the Food Safety Basic Law in May, 2003. Under the law, the Japanese government pomotes the food safety policy. The Food Safety Commission was established in the Cabinet Office on July 1, 2003, and plays a central role for food safety in the government. The Food Safety Commission is the organization for risk assessment, independent from risk management organizations. With a basic recognition that the health protection of people is the most important issues, the Commission's mission primarily comprises the following three tasks: 1) Conducting a risk assessment on food in scientific, independent and fair manner, and making a recommendation to relevant ministries based upon the results from the risk assessment, 2) Implementing risk communication among stakeholders such as consumers and food-related business operators, 3) Responding to food-borne accidents and other emergencies. This paper also describes the food safety issues concerned in Japan and other countries.