Taiwan removed all restrictions on Japanese food imports on Friday, signaling support for Tokyo amid reports that China plans to halt purchases due to a dispute with the new prime minister.
Taipei had previously enforced a blanket ban on products from five Japanese regions near the Fukushima nuclear disaster site, triggered by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, before gradually easing rules in 2022 and 2024.
Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration stated on Friday that “Japanese food safety management measures return to normal,” effective immediately.
Taiwan will no longer mandate certificates of origin for any Japanese food products or radiation inspection reports for items from the five prefectures of Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, and Chiba.
In September, Taiwan revealed plans to lift the import restrictions by the end of the year, following a 60-day public consultation period.
“Since 2011, Taiwan has conducted border inspections on over 270,000 batches of Japanese food for radiation testing, with a failure rate of 0 percent,” the administration said in a statement. “The risk assessment of additional radiation exposure risk from Japanese food is negligible,” it added.
Taiwan’s decision follows renewed tensions between Japan and China, sparked by remarks from new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi this month that Tokyo could take military action in the event of an attack on the island.
Japan’s Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister, Norikazu Suzuki, welcomed the move, calling it a ‘big boost for reconstruction’ in regions impacted by the 2011 disaster.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare reported that over 270,000 Japanese food items have been tested for radioactive contamination since the Fukushima nuclear disaster, with all passing inspections and posing only minimal risk.
The ministry added that there was no resistance to lifting the import restrictions, and Japanese food will now be regulated in the same way as other foreign foods.
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