May 20, 2011

China to resume Japanese seafood imports this month

China is expected to remove part of its prohibition on seafood imports from Japan sometime this month, according to the media.

In April, China slapped a total ban on imports of all food items, including seafood, farm products and processed food, from 12 prefectures in the quake-hit Kanto and Tohoku regions amid fear of radioactive contamination from Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (9501) leaking Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station.

The easing of the ban will apply to seafood from areas other than those 12 prefectures.

China has also imposed mandatory radioactivity screening and certification of food from Hokkaido and western Japan, but it has questioned the soundness of Japan's certification system.

"Food exports to China have completely stopped," said an official at the Fisheries Agency.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan will explain to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao the measures taken to ensure the safety of Japanese food and ask him to resume imports when the two leaders meet in Tokyo on Sunday (May 22).

According to Finance Ministry trade statistics, China, excluding Hong Kong, accounted for 17%, or about JPY28.5 billion (US$349.2 million), of Japan's total exports of seafood in 2010. That was a 27% rise from 2009 and the growth is being driven by China's robust economic growth. As the market is expected to grow further, the Japanese government wants to resume exports to China as soon as possible.