Germany starts checks on Japanese food imports

Germany has started extra checks on Japanese food imports to ensure they are free from radioactivity, Germany's agriculture and consumer protection ministry said on Wednesday.

France on Tuesday asked the European Commission to look into a harmonised system of controls on radioactivity in food and feed imports from Japan following the Asian country's nuclear crisis.

German food imports from Japan and any neighbouring states which could be affected by the nuclear alert will be checked for radioactivity before they are dispatched, the ministry said. No suspect food had yet been found, it added.

The ministry stressed that Japanese food imports were relatively small and were largely restricted to soy sauce and fish.

Only 60 tonnes of fish were imported from Japan in 2010 compared to Germany's total fish imports of 900,000 tonnes, it said.

Trade with Japan has been disrupted by the impact of the tsunami, the ministry said.