Japan hopes to resolve China’s seafood ban over Fukushima’s wastewater release within WTO’s scope

By EILEEN NG
Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Japanese Agriculture Minister Ichiro Miyashita says Tokyo hopes to resolve the issue of Chinese ban on its seafood within the World Trade Organization’s scope. Despite repeated assurances, China banned seafood from Japan immediately after the discharge of treated wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant last month. China was the top destination for Japanese seafood exports and its ban has hit Japanese exporters hard. Miyashita says Japan’s vigorous tests on fish and seawater after the discharge showed a negligible impact with contamination well below set safety limits. Japan is due to begin releasing a second round of wastewater on Thursday.