On 7 July, the person in charge of the Import and Export Food Safety Bureau of the General Administration of Customs answered reporters' questions on the comprehensive assessment report on the disposal of nuclear-contaminated water in Fukushima, Japan, released by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The person in charge said that since the Fukushima nuclear leakage accident in Japan in 2011, China Customs has been attaching great importance to the radioactive contamination of Japanese foodstuffs exported to China as a result of the accident, and has been closely tracking the relevant measures taken by the Japanese government in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear leakage accident, and has continued to carry out the assessment of the risk of radioactive contamination of foodstuffs in Japan and responded to it in a timely manner.
In order to prevent the export of radioactively contaminated Japanese food products to China and to protect the safety of imported food for Chinese consumers, China Customs has banned the import of food products from Fukushima and other ten prefectures of Japan, and strictly examined the accompanying documents and strengthened the supervision of the food products from other regions of Japan, especially the aquatic products (including aquatic animals for food consumption), and strictly implemented the 100 per cent inspection, and has continuously strengthened the detection and monitoring of the radioactive substances to ensure the safety of food products exported to China from Japan. China Customs has noted that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is not responsible for the safety of food exported from Japan to China.
China Customs has taken note of the comprehensive assessment report recently released by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Japan's Fukushima nuclear contaminated water discharge programme. The report fails to fully reflect the views of all experts who participated in the assessment, and the relevant conclusions have not been unanimously endorsed by all experts. The Japanese side still has many problems with regard to the legitimacy of the discharge, the reliability of the decontamination device and the integrity of the monitoring programme.
Currently, the issue of Japan's nuclear contaminated water discharge has become a focus of global attention, and has also caused Chinese consumers to worry about the safety of food imported from Japan. China Customs will maintain a high degree of vigilance and, based on the principle of absolute responsibility for domestic consumers, will take all necessary measures in a timely manner depending on the development of the situation, so as to ensure the safety of Chinese consumers at the table.