PRINCIPAL POLICIES OF THE TOKYO METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT

Maintaining Food Safety

Preventing harm from unsanitary foods or beverages is crucial for protecting the health of Tokyo's citizens. To ensure the safety of the food supply, public health centers, the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health, market sanitation inspection stations, meat sanitation inspection stations and other authorities carry out on-the-spot inspections, sampling inspections and other checks on food and conditions at food-related business facilities.

Monitoring and Guidance for Food-Related Facilities

The TMG provides monitoring and guidance for business licenses, food handling procedures and other aspects of food-related business in an effort to educate operators on proper sanitation. Inspections of food are carried out and various steps are taken to eliminate harmful foods from the supply chain. With regard to the safety of imported foods, a source of heightened concern in recent years, the monitoring process is being strengthened to provide greater scrutiny of importers and warehousing operations at the pre-distribution stage.

Food Poisoning Countermeasures

Tokyo is bolstering its program of monitoring and guidance for industries prone to food poisoning, group meal programs susceptible to large-scale food poisoning incidents and other mass-volume food preparation facilities. In addition to prevention, the TMG and the local wards implement joint crisis management training to enable all related agencies to mount smooth and swift responses to outbreaks of food poisoning and other such emergencies within the Tokyo area.

Logo used premises meeting food safety standards

Proper Food Labeling

To ensure that food and other items are properly labeled as stipulated in the Food Sanitation Law, the Japan Agricultural Standards Law and other legislation, snap inspections are conducted at sales and production facilities to check on labeling status, and guidance and support given.

Online Information Supply

The latest food poisoning reports, inspection data on agrochemical residues and other food sanitation information is disclosed through the Internet on a website for that purpose.

Priority Activities

As a priority measure during fiscal 2003, the TMG carried out the following activities to maintain a safe and secure food supply:

	Establishment of the Tokyo Metropolitan Food Safety Information Evaluation Committee
	Creation of the Tokyo Metropolitan Food Sanitation Autonomous Management Certification System
	Project to Supply Tokyo Citizens with Production Information
	Enactment of the Tokyo Metropolitan Basic Ordinance on Food Safety (tentative name) by year's end