Regulatory aspects of food irradiation in the Asia-Pacific region

The latest information on the countries in the Asia/Pacific region with app rovals for food to be irradiated is provided. Differences in the type of re gulations used are contrasted. However, progress has been made towards grea ter uniformity in regulations based around the Coder General Standard for I rradiated Food. Australia and New Zealand instituted, respectively, a moratorium and a ban on food irradiation in 1988. Australia has proposed a new draft Standard fo r food irradiation and this is the subject of public discussion under the A ustralia New Zealand Food Authority. The draft Standard is a prohibition wi th the possibility of exemptions being given on a case-by-case basis. Some details of the draft Standard are provided. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.