Beijing, 7 July 2023 (dpa/MIA) - China has imposed an import ban on food from a total of 10 Japanese prefectures, the Chinese customs authority announced on Friday, adding that food imports from the remaining parts of Japan will also be strictly monitored in future.

The measure was justified by safety concerns surrounding Japan's push to discharge nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea, it said. The customs authority's statement goes on to say that it wants to prevent radioactively contaminated food from reaching China.

On Tuesday, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi gave the green light for the disposal of the water during a visit to Japan. Japan's plan met international safety standards, his agency's final review report said. China criticized the report.

Japan's threshold for the release of tritium is less than 22 trillion becquerels per year, according to the government, which is much stricter than in other countries, including its two neighbours China and South Korea.

In 2021, for example, the Yangjiang nuclear power plant in China released about 112 trillion becquerels of tritium, while the Kori power plant in South Korea released about 49 trillion becquerels of the radioactive material, it said.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant suffered core meltdowns in 2011 as a result of an earthquake and a tsunami. The destroyed reactors still have to be cooled with water stored in huge tanks. The water is to be filtered through a tunnel built about 1 kilometre into the sea and disposed of in diluted form.

Photo: MIA Archive