Hong Kong to ban Japanese seafood imports from 10 regions this Thurs over nuclear wastewater release
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong is to impose an indefinite ban on seafood imports from 10 Japanese prefectures starting on Thursday as the Fukushima power plant discharges treated waste waster into the sea.
The “precautionary measure” is to make sure all seafood imports to Hong Kong are safe, Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan said on Tuesday, adding that the government will monitor radiation levels to determinate how long the ban will last.
Early last month, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) granted Tokyo approval to release treated water stored at the disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station into the sea. Following a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in 2011, the plant suffered major damage. Beijing and Hong Kong have expressed “strong opposition” to the wastewater discharge.
“At this point of time, we do not have a timetable of how long the prohibition will last, ” Tse said in Cantonese as he met the media.
When asked about how the government will help affected Japanese restaurants, he said: “In order to help the restaurants, I think the best thing to do is to assure the people of Hong Kong that all food allowed to be imported to Hong Kong is safe.”
The prohibition encompasses all seafood from 10 regions including Tokyo, Fukushima, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Niigata, Nagano, and Saitama. This ban applies to all forms of seafood, including frozen, chilled, dried, or that which is stored in any other manner.
Representatives from the restaurant industry have been raising concerns over the past two months, urging the government to introduce measures to help Japanese eateries.
According to HK01 last month, Martin Chan – a member of the board of directors of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants & Related Trades – said that Japanese restaurants will see an estimated 50 per cent drop in revenue after the ban is imposed, and 20 to 30 per cent of restaurants will close down if the prohibition last for two to three months.
Chan said 80 to 90 per cent of all exports from Japan to the world transit via Tokyo, urging the government to make it clear if seafood coming from other Japanese regions – via Tokyo – are exempt from the prohibition.
HKFP has reached out to the Environment and Ecology Bureau for a response.
‘Negligible impact’
In July, the IAEA published a report reviewing the safety of the treated wastewater. “The discharges of the treated water would have a negligible radiological impact to people and the environment.”
Kenichi Okada, who heads the Japanese consulate in Hong Kong, told Now TV in an interview earlier this month that Japan will not adopt “tit-for-tat” measures if Hong Kong imposes bans on its food imports after the discharge, adding that Hong Kong’s reputation in Japan has been poor since the protests and unrest of 2019.
“Japan is not a country which engages in illogical, nasty tit-for-tat. But what I’m worried very seriously [about] is the image of Hong Kong in Japan,” Okada said .
“As I have said, our objection to the discharge plan remains. That’s why I am here, ” Tse said on Tuesday when asked how Hong Kong will navigate its relationship with Japan.
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