Hong Kong leader John Lee has announced that the city will ban seafood from many Japanese prefectures if Tokyo does not abandon its plan to release radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean, according to Reuters.
Hong Kong is the second-largest market for Japanese agricultural and fishery products. Mainland China ranks first.
Japan’s plan has been approved by the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but it has faced opposition both inside and outside Japan. The biggest concern is food safety. Tokyo says the water release will be safe and in line with international standards.
Lee has said that the current ban on imports from one Japanese prefecture will definitely be expanded:
“If the exercise really starts, we’ll be banning a large number of prefectures’ sea products.”
China said last week that it would more closely inspect food imported from Japan and maintain restrictions on certain Japanese products. South Korea will maintain a ban on food and seafood from the Fukushima region.
Lee said: “The food industry will definitely suffer, but I’m sure they will understand that we have to make this decision because of Japan’s plan.”
In 2022, Japan exported fishery products worth 536 million dollars to Hong Kong.
Read also: Japan is preparing to release radioactive water into the sea