BEIJING, SEPT 20 – China said today it will gradually resume seafood imports from Japan after imposing a blanket ban last year over water discharge from the Fukushima nuclear plant.
In August 2023, Japan will begin discharging treated water from Fukushima into the Pacific Ocean in an operation it insists is safe, a view supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
However, the dumping drew a fierce backlash from China, which branded it self-important and later banned all Japanese seafood imports.
Beijing and Tokyo said today they had reached an agreement on waste water disposal that would allow China to withdraw the directive.
“China will begin to adjust relevant measures based on scientific evidence and gradually resume imports of Japanese marine products that meet regulatory requirements and standards,” Beijing’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said officials from both sides had recently held various rounds of negotiations on the disposal of waste water from Fukushima.
It said Japan was committed to fulfilling its obligations under international law, doing its best to avoid leaving negative impacts on human health and the environment, and conducting continuous assessments of impacts on the marine environment and marine ecosystems.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, said Tokyo has informed Beijing of its willingness to carry out additional monitoring of treated water, while China has decided to restore imports of Japanese fishery products continuously that meet certain standards.”
The IAEA said in a statement that it will join Japan and other stakeholders, including China, to ensure that additional measures are appropriately implemented to ensure that discharge levels are, and will continue to be, under strict control and in line with international safety standards”. – AFP
