Korea Bans Import of All Fisheries Products from Eight Japanese Prefectures

A recent acknowledgement by Electric Power Co., the operator of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, that 400 tons of radiation-contaminated water are leaking daily from the site of the Fukushima nuclear accident into the Pacific has sharply increased public concerns about the safety of Japanese seafood imports into Korea. 

Amid deepening worries over contaminated fishery imports, the Korean government decided to ban all marine products from the eight Japanese prefectures of Fukushima, Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Ibaraki, Chiba, Tochigi, and Gunma. 

The government announced on September 6 that it reached a conclusion to take the special measure, after having a ministerial level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Chung Hong-won on September 5 and a government-ruling party consultative meeting on September 6. 

So far, 50 fishery products from Fukushima and seven adjacent prefectures have been forbidden. However, with the government decision, 33 new items will be banned as well. In total, the imports of 209 fishery items and 74 types of fish will be prohibited.

Seoul also decided to ask Japan to issue additional certificates that show no contamination by other nuclear materials, including strontium and plutonium, even though a very small amount of radioactive materials such as cesium or iodine is detected in fishery or livestock products from any other region of Japan. 

To date, the government has requested certificates that indicate no contamination for agricultural and industrial products. But it has permitted the imports of marine and animal products with cesium at less than 100 becquerel (Bq), and iodine at below 300Bq per kilogram level, on the grounds that those foods spoil easily. 

Seoul explained that its recent request helps to ban all kinds of Japanese seafood imports, since it takes 4-6 weeks to issue such certificates. Furthermore, it will reduce the permitted level of cesium in all domestic food products from the current 370 Bq to 100 Bq per kilogram, which is the allowed level of cesium in Japanese food imports. The measure is to prevent incidents where Japanese fishery products disguised as domestic ones are sold in the market. 

Chung Seung, minister of Food and Drug Safety, said, "The government decided to take such steps since citizens have been showing increasing anxiety over a daily outflow of tons of contaminated water from storage tanks at the site of the Fukushima reactors into the sea. In addition, the information that Tokyo has provided so far is not sufficient to predict future events."

However, several civic groups raised a concern that the government measure is not enough to quell the people's fears of radiation. 

In response to the government's announcement, the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement issued a statement. It pointed out, "Korea has no standards for strontium and plutonium subject to import restrictions. Even if we demand inspections for additional nuclear materials, it is not clear what kinds of standard will be chosen."

Kim Hey-jung, chairman of the organizing committee for the non-governmental Korean Radiation Monitoring Group, said, "In principle, the Korean government should inspect strontium and plutonium levels, since the materials are deadly to humans even with an extremely small amount. However, due to lack of equipment, the government is asking a private company to issue certificates that indicate non-contamination," adding, "Amid Tokyo's continued unreliable actions, it is time for Seoul to come up with a plan to expand equipment and work forces so that it can make its own inspection."

The chairman concluded by saying, "The government decided to implement import bans on seafood from eight Japanese prefectures by considering ocean currents. But contaminated marine products are already found in the southern and western parts of Japan. Therefore, Seoul ought to expand import bans on fishery products, and to mark the place of origin by prefecture, not by country.”