The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday announced that it plans to remove the special restrictions on food imports from five Japanese prefectures, including Fukushima, and that the restrictions might be lifted by the end of the year after a 60-day public comment period ends.
Taiwan has banned all imports of Japanese food and agricultural products from five prefectures — Fukushima, Gunma, Chiba, Ibaraki and Tochigi — near the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant since 2011.
While the ban was partially lifted in 2022 and last year, some high-risk food products remained banned, and two certificates — a certificate of origin and a radiation inspection certificate — are required for food products imported from the areas. They are also subject to batch-by-batch inspections upon arrival.
Photo: Reuters
If the policy is implemented after the 60-day public comment period, food imports from the areas would be inspected according to normal border inspection and food safety risk management standards.
FDA Director-General Chiang Chih-kang (姜至剛) said 21,717 batches of food imports from the five Japanese prefectures were tested for radiation between Feb. 21, 2022, and Sept. 25 last year, and a total of more than 263,000 batches were tested in the past 14 years, but none failed the test, either according to Taiwanese or Japanese standards, so the risk is deemed “negligible.”
There were 53 nations or areas that imposed restrictions on food imports from Japan after the nuclear disaster, but 49 of them have totally removed the restrictions, he said, adding that only China (including Hong Kong and Macau), South Korea, Russia and Taiwan still have total or partial restrictions.
Asked about the matter at a separate setting, Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said that since the nuclear disaster in 2011, more than 260,000 batches of food imports from the area have been tested and most nations have now recognized the risk is negligible, so it is time to return to normal regulations based on scientific evidence.
Japan is the most popular destination among Taiwanese, with more than 6 million visits last year, and most Taiwanese are familiar with Japanese food, with many enjoying local food and having a great time in Japan, Chiang said.
If the current restriction is removed after the 60-day comment period, food importers would no longer be required to submit the two certificates, nor be subject to batch-by-batch inspection, he said.
Instead they would be subject to random border inspections and domestic market inspections like other food imports, he added.
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