China bans food imports from 10 Japanese prefectures over Fukushima water release

Business Desk :
China’s customs authority on Friday said that it would ban food imports from 10 Japanese prefectures over Tokyo’s plan to release treated nuclear wastewater into the ocean.
Japan’s planned, decades-long discharge of accumulated water from the devastated Fukushima nuclear facility has been approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency as meeting global standards.
The release is expected to begin this summer but is opposed by some regional neighbours, with Beijing vocally condemning the plan, as well as some in Fukushima, particularly fishing communities who fear customers will shun their catches.
China’s foreign ministry on Thursday said that the IAEA report cannot be used as a ‘green light’ for the water release plan and warned of unknown risks to human health.
China’s customs authority on Friday said it would ‘ban imports of foodstuffs from ten Japanese prefectures including Fukushima’ over safety concerns, and conduct stringent radiation tests on food from the rest of Japan.
‘China Customs will maintain a high level of vigilance,’ the authority said in a WeChat statement, without specifying the list of Japanese prefectures affected by the ban.