Japan, China Likely to Start Talks on Food Import Ban

May 9, 2018

Tokyo- Japan and China are considering starting working-level discussions on a possible lifting of China's import ban on Japanese food launched due to the March 2011 nuclear accident, informed sources said Tuesday.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang are expected to agree on the start of the working-level talks at their summit in Tokyo on Wednesday on the sidelines of a trilateral summit among Japan, China and South Korea.

The ban was introduced due to concerns over radioactive materials released from Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, the site of the meltdown accident.

China bans imports of food produced in the 10 Japanese prefectures of Fukushima, Miyagi, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Niigata and Nagano.

The Japanese government has urged the Chinese government to relax the rule. But China has been cautious, citing lingering safety concerns.

Now that seven years have passed since the nuclear disaster, harmful rumors about the safety of Japanese food have faded in many countries.

Fifty-four countries and regions introduced import restrictions on Japanese food in response to the nuclear accident. Half of them have already scrapped their restrictions.

China is beginning to show a willingness to ease its import ban. Tokyo and Beijing share a view on the need for discussions based on scientific grounds, the sources said.

According to the Japanese agriculture ministry, the country's exports of agricultural, forestry and fisheries products and food totaled 807.1 billion yen last year.

China-bound exports accounted for 100.7 billion yen, the third largest after the 187.7 billion yen worth exported to Hong Kong and 111.5 billion yen to the United States. Jiji Press