Kishida Welcomes Lifting of European Restrictions on Japanese Food Imports on SNS

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida posted on his social networking service (SNS) welcoming the lifting of the European Union's import restrictions on Japanese food products.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Prime Minister Kishida posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account the announcement from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stating, "On August 3, the European Union (EU) lifted the import restrictions on Japanese food products," and said, "We welcome the EU, Norway, and Iceland's decision to lift the import restrictions on Japanese food products that had been imposed since the Tokyo Electric Power Company Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident."

He added, "Lifting the restrictions based on scientific evidence supports the revitalization of the affected areas."

With the EU lifting the import restrictions on Japanese food products, Japan no longer needs to submit radioactive substance inspection certificates when exporting food products from 10 prefectures, including seafood from Fukushima Prefecture.

The regions where the restrictions had been applied are Fukushima Prefecture, Iwate Prefecture, Miyagi Prefecture, Yamagata Prefecture, Ibaraki Prefecture, Gunma Prefecture, Niigata Prefecture, Yamanashi Prefecture, Nagano Prefecture, and Shizuoka Prefecture.