Taiwan plans to allow all imports of Japanese food and agricultural products from areas near the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Tuesday evening.
The FDA said in a statement that it is planning to amend regulations to allow mushrooms, the meat of wild birds and other wild animals, and “koshiabura” (foraged vegetables) from Fukushima, Gunma, Chiba, Ibaraki and Tochigi prefectures to be imported.
Apart from those products, Taiwan lifted a ban on food imports from the five prefectures in 2022.
Photo courtesy of the Food and Drug Administration
All food imports from the five prefectures would undergo batch-by-batch inspections under the amended regulations, and radiation readings and certificates of origin would also be required, FDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said.
More than 235,000 batches of Japanese food have been inspected for radiation at the border since the disaster in 2011, Lin said, adding that only trace amounts, which met Taiwan’s and Japan’s standards, were detected.
As food safety has been confirmed and given that most countries have already lifted restrictions on food products from the five prefectures, Taiwan would remove its import control measures for Japanese products, he said.
Forty-nine of 53 countries and regions that import Japanese food products have completely lifted control measures imposed after the disaster, Lin said.
A 60-day review period is in place and public feedback on the amendments is welcome, the FDA said.
In addition, seafood, mushrooms, tea, dairy products and baby food from areas outside the five prefectures, such as tea from Shizuoka Prefecture, would no longer require radiation certification, it said.
Only proof of origin would be required for those products, the FDA added.
Mai Fu-der (麥富德), a professor at Taipei Medical University’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology, yesterday said that wild mushrooms and fowl are more susceptible to environmental exposure, and were more exposed to radiation than other agricultural products.
However, the FDA said such food was rarely imported before, so lifting the restrictions was more of a gesture of goodwill, he said.
Provided there is enough staff to examine the products batch by batch and imports remain low, there is comparatively little risk in lifting the restrictions, Mai said.
As it has been more than a decade since the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster, and the half-life of caesium-137 is 30.17 years, any risk has significantly decreased, he said.
However, Mai said that his statements were predicated on the FDA’s ability to implement its stringent standards and having sufficient personnel to screen Japanese imports.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
RSS