Hong Kong has underscored the need for prudence in allowing Japanese seafood imports after Beijing partially lifted its own ban on such products, which had been put in place over concerns about waste water discharged from the decommissioned Fukushima nuclear power plant.
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In a statement issued in the early hours of Monday, a Hong Kong government spokesman stopped short of saying whether the city would reconsider import restrictions on Japanese seafood, which had been in place since August 2023.
“The [Hong Kong] government has been maintaining communication with the Japanese authority on the relevant issues, including requesting Japan to provide information on latest developments and scientific evidence concerning the discharge of the nuclear-contaminated water, to assess whether there are conditions for relaxing the current precautionary measures,” he said.
“The government will make a public announcement if there is any policy adjustment.”
But the spokesman stressed that the duration and scale of the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant were “unprecedented” and required Hong Kong authorities to “act in a prudent manner”.
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On Sunday, China’s General Administration of Customs said it would immediately resume importing sea products from Japan, excluding 10 prefectures: Tokyo, Fukushima, Chiba, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Gunma, Miyagi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama.