JAPAN TIMES




 

China’s decision to impose blanket testing for Japanese seafood imports in response to Tokyo’s planned release of water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is starting to impact Japanese seafood firms.

Some Japanese seafood imports have already been delayed by China’s customs agency, apparently due to newly intensified testing procedures for radiation.

Seafood imports from five China-based Japanese firms have yet to be released from Chinese customs, running the risk of ¥100 million in damages if they end up spoiling. It reportedly takes about two weeks to conduct radiation testing for fresh fish.

“If a full-scale radiation testing has been introduced, it would run counter to the international movement toward the easing of restrictions for Japanese food imports,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a news conference Friday.

He added that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had already given the green light earlier this month to Japan’s plan to release more than 1 million tons of treated water from the Fukushima plants into the sea over the next 30 to 40 years.

The water will be released after passing through a filtration system called the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), which removes most radionuclides except tritium.The IAEA says this system is consistent with international standards and will have a negligible impact on the marine environment.

“The safety of Japanese food products has been scientifically proven. The government, including at the level of foreign ministers, has been urging the Chinese side to quickly remove import restrictions on Japanese food products based on scientific evidence,” Matsuno said.

But because of the holdup, restaurants in China using Japanese imported fish are forced to look for other options. For example, one Japanese restaurant in Shanghai was forced to stop serving sea bream from Japan’s Shikoku region and replace it with fish imported from Europe.

In addition, some Japanese wholesale seafood exporters are now reluctant to ship to China over concerns the seafood won’t clear customs before it spoils.

“Freshness is everything for high-end products so if it can’t be sent to (clients) fresh, there’s nothing we can do but give up,” Yasuhiro Yamazaki, president of Yamaharu, a wholesaler at Toyosu fish market, told TBS.

China is Japan’s largest export market for seafood and marine products, and was worth ¥87.1 billion last year.

But concern in China over Japanese food safety is growing.
China rejected the IAEA’s assessment, saying its customs agency will test all seafood from Japan for radiation. Beijing is already banning such products from Fukushima and 10 other prefectures due to radiation concerns.

“Our opposition to Japan’s ocean discharge plan is based on facts and reason. So are the measures that we have decided to take.

There is no precedent nor commonly accepted standard for dumping nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean. It is a matter of science and a question about attitude as well,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Thursday.

Worries in Japan about the impact of tough Chinese customs standards on Japanese seafood products impacting Japan’s economy over the longer term are also growing.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said that Japan would continue to work to convince the international community that release of the treated water is scientifically sound, and that the seafood in and around Fukushima is safe.