More countries ban Japanese seafood imports

April 6, 2011 - PRLog -- Japan this week set its first limits for radiation in seafood after finding fish with high levels of contamination off the Fukushima Prefecture. Russia has now suspended its fish and seafood imports from 242 plants in that country, while India, Britain, China, Singapore and Hong Kong have banned certain Japanese food imports.

Further, European Union (EU) member states will be voting on stricter radiation limits on Japanese food imports later this week.

"The restrictions were introduced after an analysis of threats and risks which arose after the accident on the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant,” said Russia’s Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Oversight, reports Reuters.

And India has decided to impose a ban for three months or until it can acquire credible data informing that the radiation hazard has declined to acceptable limits. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) will undertake a weekly review, the Union health ministry communicated in a statement, reports The Times of India.

“Since radiation was spreading horizontally across Japan,” said an Indian Food Ministry official, it could contaminate all kinds of Japanese food imports and thus all should be suspended.  

But Indian restaurant owners said the government should check imports for radiation instead of banning all of them, IANS reports.

"I think the government should be pragmatic and rather than impose a blanket ban, it should consider checking every consignment for contamination. If it is found free of radiation the import should be allowed," opined the owner of a restaurant in south Mumbai.  

Sushi restaurants said the product will continue to be served, at least for now, but predicted that prices would rise because exporters are hiking theirs. Many fish and seafood products served at these establishments are imported from countries like Scotland, Thailand and the US.

As far as the EU, member states will discuss the matter later this week and are expected to agree tighter radiation limits, reports EUobserver.

European Commission (EC) President Jose Manuel Barroso called the measures "purely precautionary."

"The commission believes it would be correct to amend the present levels in force since 25 March as an additional safeguard measure," Barroso said. "We have decided that on a transitional basis we are going to implement the standards of Japan (where) the levels permitted are lower."

By Natalia Real
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com

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