Chinese customs stated that the Tokyo plan “does not fully reflect the views of experts”, so they plan to take all necessary security measures.
The General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) on Friday banned food imports from China. 10 Japanese regions, in the face of the apparently inevitable discharge into the sea of the treated radioactive water by Tokyo, local media collect. This is the material used to cool the reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant after the 2011 accident.
The organization declared that the plan of the Japanese Government, approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), “does not fully reflect the opinions of the experts”, for which reason it plans to take “all necessary measures” to ensure the safety of Chinese consumers who are concerned about the safety of imported Japanese food.
“Chinese customs will continue to strengthen the detection and control of radioactive substances, ensure the safety of Japanese food exported to China, and strictly prevent the import of risky products,” reads a GACC statement cited by SCMP.
In this context, for food products from other regions of Japan, especially seafood products, the Chinese authorities will carry out strict examinations of the accompanying documents and They will be subjected to a special inspection..
Japan’s plan has drawn strong protests from local fishing communities, as well as from neighboring countries, including China and some of the Pacific island nations, who doubt its legitimacy.
“There is still many questions related to the legitimacy of the plan discharge from Japan, the reliability of the purification equipment and the completeness of the surveillance plan,” the agency stressed.
For more than a decade, Chinese customs have closely followed the actions taken by the Japanese government in connection with the Fukushima disaster and continue to assess and respond to the risk of radioactive contamination in Japanese food, the GACC concluded.
Public opinion
According to a survey conducted by the Global Times Research Center, 81% of participants from 11 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan, said that the plan to release polluted water into the ocean is “irresponsible”.
Meanwhile, 87% of those surveyed said that their attitude towards the neighboring country has worsened after the plan was disclosed. In addition, 94% of the participants stated that the measure will have a negative effect not only for Japan, but also for other Pacific countries and around the world.
Source: RT
