Storage tanks of radiation contaminated water at the tsunami-crippled Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Power Plant are seen in this January 2019 photo. File Photo by Kimimasa Mayama/EPA-EFE
Nearly two years after China suspended imports of Japanese seafood in protest over the release of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, Beijing has announced it will resume accepting aquatic products from 10 Japanese prefectures.
Beijing’s General Administration of Customs announced the move in a statement Sunday, saying it is in light of “no abnormalities” being detected following long-term international monitoring and independent sampling and testing by China of discharged nuclear-contaminated water from Fukushima.
“The Chinese side has decided — based on relevant domestic food safety laws and regulations and the principles of the WTO’s Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures — to conditionally resume the import of aquatic products … from certain regions of Japan in order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers,” the GAC said.
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station was destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. More than 1.3 million metric tons of radioactive water — a combination of contaminated groundwater and water that was used for cooling reactors — were being stored in more than 1,000 large tanks on the site until the discharge plan began in late August 2023.
The water is gradually released after being diluted with seawater and treated through a system that removes all nuclides except for tritium, a naturally occurring hydrogen atom that is a relatively weak source of beta radiation. The plan received the backing of the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency.
China suspended seafood imports from Japan when Japan began its gradual release of treated radioactive wastewater, saying it was “an extremely selfish and irresponsible act in disregard of the global public interest.”
In its statement Sunday, China’s customs agency said its resumption of accepting Japanese seafood imports is also dependent on the premise that Tokyo is committed to ensuring the safety and quality of seafood to be exported.
The 10 prefectures include Fukushima, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Niigata, Nagano, Saitama, Tokyo and Chiba.
However, Hong Kong said Monday in a statement in response to media inquiries that it will maintain its ban on Japanese seafood imports.
“The duration and scale of the discharge of the nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Power Station are unprecedented. Therefore, we must act in a prudent manner,” it said.
“The HKSAR Government will make a public announcement if there is any policy adjustment.”
Hong Kong’s official name is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
