April 7, 2011

Russia bans Japanese seafood on radiation fears

Russia had cancelled seafood shipments from 242 Japanese firms amid fears of radiation contamination, the country's food safety and sanitary watchdog, Rosselkhoznadzor, said Wednesday (Apr 6).

"The restrictions were introduced after an analysis of threats and risks which arose after the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant," the statement said.

However, Rosselkhoznadzor didn't say how long the ban would last.

According to local reports, Russia imported 57,000 tonnes of seafood from Japan last year.

Earlier this month, Japan called for calm over radiation concerns, but is itself considering imposing radioactivity restrictions on seafood for the first time after contaminated fish were found.

Also on Wednesday, the Fukushima plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., said it had stopped highly radioactive water from flowing into the Pacific Ocean from the crippled plant by injecting a chemical compound.