The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday announced that almost all produce from five Japanese prefectures affected by the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster would now be allowed into Taiwan.
The five are Fukushima, Gunma, Chiba, Ibaraki and Tochigi.
The only items that would still be blocked from being imported into the nation are those that are still banned from being circulated in Japan, the FDA added.
Photo: Reuters
With the removal of the ban, items including mushrooms, the meat of wild birds and other wild animals, and koshiabura” (foraged vegetables) would now be permitted to enter Taiwan, along with the other produce permitted since 2022.
All food items imported from the five prefectures must be accompanied by radiation and origin certificates and undergo batch-by-batch inspections, FDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said.
The amendment to the regulations permitting the imports was made known to the public 60 days ago to allow for feedback.
The FDA did not receive any comments of note during the period, Lin said.
Seafood, mushrooms, tea, dairy products and baby food imports from areas outside the five prefectures would only be required to present origin certificates. Radiation certification would no longer be necessary.
Taiwan banned all food imports from the five prefectures for almost 11 years following the disaster in Fukushima.
Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Tetsushi Sakamoto said he “welcomes the move as a positive step toward promoting the recovery of disaster-hit areas.”
The ministry statement said it would continue to push for all remaining restrictions to be lifted.
“The Japanese government has used multiple opportunities to assure the Taiwan authorities of the safety of our products based on scientific evidence, but we will continue our persistent efforts so that import restrictions such as certificate submission can be scrapped swiftly,” it said.
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