Hong Kong bans Japanese aquatic products over radiation concerns

These products include sea salt and seaweed.

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department issued a food safety order banning all aquatic products, sea salt, and seaweeds from Tokyo, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Niigata, Nagano, and Saitama from being imported into and supplied in Hong Kong.

This is in response to the Japanese government's plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station.

The department will test all other Japanese aquatic products that are not prohibited from being imported into Hong Kong to verify that the radiation levels of these products do not exceed the guideline levels before allowing them to be sold in the market.

From 16 to 19 August, the CFS tested the radiological levels of 229 food samples imported from Japan, which were of the "aquatic and related products, seaweeds, and sea salt" category, and no sample was found to have exceeded the safety limit.

In addition, the Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department (AFCD) has also tested 150 samples of local catch for radiological levels and all samples passed the tests.