The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced this Friday that Beijing and Tokyo have reached a consensus on the management of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, after months of negotiations.
In a statement, Chinese diplomats said that the agreement includes commitments from Japan to respect international law, minimizing “impacts on human health and the environment”.
An international monitoring mechanism will also be created under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), with the active participation of China and other interested countries, allowing the collection of independent samples and the carrying out of comparative laboratory analyses.
The ministry also stated that China will “gradually resume” imports of seafood from Japan, which were suspended in August 2023 after the discharge of treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean.
China will “gradually resume imports of Japanese aquatic products that meet regulatory standards”, the statement reads. Beijing last year suspended the import of aquatic products of Japanese origin, in order to “prevent the risk of radioactive contamination”.
The suspension covered all products of aquatic origin, including fish, shellfish, molluscs, crustaceans and algae. The release of water began almost 12 and a half years after the March 2011 nuclear meltdown, caused by a powerful earthquake and tsunami.
The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, stated at the time that “IAEA experts are on the ground to serve as the eyes of the international community and ensure that the discharge is being carried out as planned, in in accordance with agency security standards.”
The United Nations agency also launched a portal to provide real-time data on the discharge and reiterated assurances that the IAEA monitors operations on the ground.
