The European Union has lifted restrictions on Japanese food imports imposed after the meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, weeks before Japan is expected to start pumping wastewater from the facility into the Pacific Ocean.
China and other countries, however, have threatened to further restrict Japanese seafood imports if the water discharge goes ahead.
The EU announcement came after talks at a summit in Brussels between the European Council president, Charles Michel, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida.
The EU’s decision to lift all remaining restrictions, possibly next month, comes days after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) approved Japan’s water release plans in a key safety review, saying the move would have “a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment”.
The EU has loosened import curbs several times since 2011, when the plant was struck by a powerful earthquake and tsunami, triggering the world’s worst nuclear accident since Chornobyl 25 years earlier.
But since 2021 it has required certificates showing levels of radioactive isotopes in wild mushrooms, some fish species and edible wild plants from Fukushima and nine other prefectures.
The European Commission said the restrictions would be fully lifted – reportedly next month – adding that Japan would continue to monitor produce for radioactivity.
“This will help drive forward the reconstruction of the devastated areas and is one we appreciate and welcome,” Kishida told reporters.
The EU’s decision is seen as part of an attempt to make progress on the removal of Japanese trade barriers to EU beef, fruit and vegetables, whose access to Japan is limited by food safety rules.
Eleven countries now maintain import controls on produce from Fukushima and other parts of Japan.
China, a vocal critic of the water discharge, this week suggested it could widen restrictions on Japanese food imports, while Hong Kong said it would ban seafood from Fukushima and nine other prefectures if the water release goes ahead.
“Our assessment shows prefectures near Fukushima have higher risks, so we are now taking a responsible way for our residents,” Hong Kong’s secretary for the environment and ecology, Tse Chin-wan, told reporters.
Hong Kong is Japan’s second largest market, after mainland China, for agricultural and fisheries exports. It exported fishery products worth ¥75.5bn ($536m) to Hong Kong last year, according to Japanese government statistics.
Russia’s consumer protection agency said it would step up supervision of marine products imported from Japan.
South Korea’s government endorsed the IAEA report, but opposition MPs are skeptical of reassurances that the wastewater poses no risk to marine species and humans who consume them.
During a visit to Japan this week, opposition MPs said the South Korean government had ignored concerns among members of the public, and called for more expert organisations to review the discharge plans.
Speaking in Seoul, the opposition Democratic party’s Jung Choun-sook said the South Korean president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has shown an “irresponsible attitude” towards public health in endorsing the IAEA report.
“Isn’t Yoon the president of South Korea?” Jung said, according to the Yonhap news agency. “Trying to solve a problem directly related to people’s health and safety by relying on the goodwill of Japan is not a responsible attitude for a president.”
More than 1.3m tonnes of water is being stored in about 1,000 tanks on the Fukushima Daiichi site, with the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), warning that it is quickly running out of storage space.
Tepco’s advanced liquid processing system can remove most radioactive elements from the water – which becomes contaminated when it is used to cool damaged nuclear fuel – but it is unable to remove tritium, an isotope of hydrogen that is difficult to separate from water.
Japanese officials have said the treated water will be diluted so that tritium levels are one-40th of the concentration permitted under the country’s safety standards, before being released into the sea. The operation is expected to take 30 to 40 years.