Hong Kong to ban seafood imports if Japan releases nuclear water from Fukushima plant

HONG KONG – Hong Kong will

ban seafood imports

from 10 Japanese prefectures if Tokyo goes ahead with a plan to discharge treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima plant into the sea.

Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan told reporters on Wednesday a ban would include imports of all live, frozen, refrigerated, dried or otherwise preserved aquatic products, sea salt, and unprocessed or processed seaweed.

The measures come a day after Hong Kong leader John Lee said the city would ban sea products from a “large number” of Japanese prefectures if Tokyo went ahead with the waste-water discharge.

Hong Kong is Japan’s second-largest market, after mainland China, for agricultural and fisheries exports. In 2022, Japan exported 75.5 billion yen (S$723 million) in fishery products to Hong Kong, according to Japanese government statistics.

Japan’s plan, approved by the United Nations nuclear watchdog, has faced opposition at home and abroad over concerns of food safety. Tokyo insists the releases will be safe and meet global standards.

Japan has made a strong request to Hong Kong officials not to tighten restrictions on food imports.

Mr Tse and Chief Secretary Eric Chan said they met the Japanese consul-general in Hong Kong to discuss the issue and emphasised that the government has a rigorous system to ensure food safety.

The ban would apply to imported aquatic products from Tokyo, Fukushima, Chiba, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Gunma, Miyagi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama, Mr Tse said. REUTERS