Taiwan To Lift Ban On Japanese Food From Fukushima Disaster Areas

Taiwan plans to lift an import ban, likely in late February, on food products from Fukushima and several other Japanese prefectures, imposed in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, the government said Tuesday, Kyodo News reported.

Photo Insert: Inspection of the Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant by former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga back in 2020

The move comes as the government of President Tsai Ing-wen is trying to secure a further push from Tokyo for Taipei's bid to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement, which mainland China is also seeking to be part of.

In a Facebook post, Tsai sought public understanding, stressing the need to further integrate Taiwan in the international economic and trading system, such as by joining the 11-member TPP, while ensuring food safety.

Cabinet spokesman Lo Ping-cheng told a news conference that the ban will be "reasonably adjusted" based on "scientific evidence," adding its lifting is expected to come in late February. "We will apply stricter measures than global standards to ensure the safety of the imported food products."

Japan, which has urged Taiwan to lift the ban and supported Taiwan's TPP bid, welcomed the announcement, saying it marked a "large step" toward the removal of import restrictions and will push forward reconstruction efforts in disaster-affected areas.

"We will continue to tenaciously call for Taiwan to remove its remaining import restrictions soon on the basis of scientific evidence," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a news conference in Tokyo. Japan's farm ministry separately expressed readiness to ramp up efforts to expand exports to Japan's fourth-largest food export destination.

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