Russia follows China, halts Japanese seafood imports
Russia on Monday followed China in suspending all Japanese seafood imports over Tokyo's release of wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. Rosselkhoznadzor, Russia's body responsible for regulating agriculture products, said it was "joining China's provisional restrictive measures on the import of fish and seafood products from Japan as of October 16, 2023" as a "precautionary measure". It said the restrictions would remain in place "until the necessary exhaustive information to confirm the safety of seafood produce... is forthcoming". Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries responded by saying that Russia's ban had 'no scientific basis, is unjust and regrettable', and called for it to be revoked, Kyodo news agency reported. In 2011, three reactors at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear facility in northeastern Japan went into meltdown following a massive earthquake and tsunami that killed around 18,000 people. Twelve years on, in August Japan began discharging of treated contaminated water from the stricken plant into the Pacific Ocean. China in response banned all Japanese seafood imports over the "selfish" and "irresponsible" release, accusing Japan of treating the sea like a "sewer". Japan insists the operation is safe, a view backed by the International Atomic Energy Agency. A team from the United Nations nuclear watchdog -- including a Chinese scientist -- is due to take water and fish samples from near the site this week. Beijing says Tokyo has not proved the authenticity and accuracy of the nuclear wastewater data, nor that the ocean discharge of the water is harmless to the marine environment and human health. Before the ban, China was Japan's biggest market for fish, accounting for more than US$500 million worth of exports in 2022. (AFP)