The Chinese government has decided to conditionally resume imports of Japanese seafood, which had been suspended for 1 year and 10 months due to the release of contaminated water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
The General Administration of Customs, which is China's customs authority, noted on the 29th, "Long-term international monitoring of the ocean release of wastewater from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant and China's independent sampling and inspection results found no abnormalities," adding that "to protect consumers' legitimate rights and interests, China has decided to conditionally resume imports of seafood from certain regions of Japan on the premise that the Japanese government guarantees the quality and safety of seafood exported to China."
The General Administration of Customs announced on the same day that it would immediately resume imports of seafood originating from Japan. However, 10 prefectures, including Fukushima, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Niigata, Nagano, Saitama, Tokyo, and Chiba, which were banned from importation before August 2023, are excluded from this resumption of imports.
The General Administration of Customs explained that companies producing seafood, which had been suspended for import, must re-register in China, and seafood produced from the date of registration is eligible for export. It also added that when importing Japanese seafood, import declarations must include a sanitary certificate issued by the Japanese government, a radioactive material inspection pass certificate, and a production area certificate.
Previously, China completely suspended imports of Japanese seafood from August 24, 2023, when Japan began the ocean release of contaminated water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. This ban included 10 areas in Japan, including Fukushima Prefecture, which were originally prohibited from importation, effectively blocking seafood imports from all over Japan. Japan has suffered from the suspension of imports by China, its largest seafood export destination, and government authorities and the economic sector have continually demanded the resumption of seafood imports whenever there has been an opportunity to engage with China.
China and Japan agreed last September to gradually resume imports if it can be confirmed that Japanese seafood meets safety standards through China's participation in additional international monitoring.
Earlier this year, China accelerated discussions on the details of the seafood import resumption process with Japan while showing conciliatory gestures to neighboring countries around the time of the inauguration of the Donald Trump administration in the United States.