Hong Kong to ban Japanese seafood imports from 10 prefectures after country announces plan to release Fukushima waste water starting Thursday
- City authorities will also publish daily test results on other food imported from Japan, environment chief Tse Chin-wan says
- Japanese Consul General Kenichi Okada calls ban ‘extremely regrettable’ and notes discharge plan was endorsed by International Atomic Energy Agency
Hong Kong will impose an indefinite ban on Japanese seafood imports from 10 prefectures and publish the results of daily tests on other food from the country starting on Thursday, when Tokyo begins to discharge treated waste water from the Fukushima power plant.
The Hong Kong government expressed “strong opposition” to the controversial plan on Tuesday, while the Japanese consul general said it was “extremely regrettable” the city was going ahead with the ban.
Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan said the “precautionary measures” were necessary to ensure food safety as Tokyo had failed to “offer a good answer” on how it would eliminate the risks posed by the discharge plan.
“We are taking a more conservative and safer approach … to assure Hongkongers that all Japanese imports are safe, and we can consume them with peace of mind,” Tse said after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced the water discharge would start on Thursday if weather allowed.
City leader John Lee Ka-chiu also slammed Japan for “imposing its problems on others irresponsibly”.
Tokyo plans to release 1.32 million metric tonnes, equivalent to 500 Olympic swimming pools, of treated radioactive water over 30 years, sparking concerns about the long-term effects on the ocean food chain.
