Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio says Japan and China have reached an agreement that will lead to the resumption of China’s imports of Japanese seafood.
China suspended the imports in August last year after the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant began discharging treated and diluted water into the ocean from the damaged plant.
Water used to cool molten fuel at the plant has been mixing with rain and groundwater. The accumulated water is being treated to remove most radioactive substances, but still contains tritium.
Before releasing the treated water into the ocean, the plant’s operator dilutes it to reduce tritium levels to about one-seventh of the World Health Organization’s guidance level for drinking water.
Kishida spoke to reporters on Friday after a phone conversation with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Director General Rafael Grossi.
Kishida said he and Grossi agreed to expand the monitoring of the treated water under a framework led by the IAEA.
This includes additional measures such as the collection of water samples by experts from China and other countries, as well as the comparison of analyses conducted by different laboratories.
Kishida said relevant working-level talks have also been held with China, and that the two sides have come to share a certain degree of understanding.
The prime minister said that Japan and China have agreed that based on the results of the additional monitoring, China will resume imports of Japanese marine products that meet Chinese safety standards.
Kishida said it remains unclear exactly when imports will restart, but that he thinks they will steadily recover.
As for the safety standards China will apply, Kishida said he believes Beijing is referring to its existing rules on food safety and quality.
He added that China has confirmed these standards are not discriminatory against any specific country.
The prime minister said Japan will continue to ask Beijing to completely lift the import suspension.