Tokyo, April 29: Japan plans to issue safety certificates for its seafood exports in an attempt to allay other countries’ fears over radiation contamination.
In the wake of Japan’s nuclear crisis following the destructive quake and tsunami on March 11, some 35 countries imposed restrictions on Japanese farm and fisheries products.
Japan’s government hopes that issuing these certificates would help convince its trading partners to lift import restrictions, the Nikkei business daily reported.
The twin disasters set off a nuclear crisis by knocking out power to cooling systems of reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, causing radiation leaks.
The government ordered the evacuation of people living in a 20-kilometer (12.4-mile) radius around the plant, and told people residing between 20 kilometers and 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from the plant to remain indoors.
The government also banned the sale of food produced near the power plant due to high levels of radioactive iodine-131 found in regional vegetables and milk products.
The operator of Fukushima plant, Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Co, announced earlier in April that it would manage to reduce radiation leaks from the plant within three months.
The cooling of reactors and controlling the radiation will finish within six to nine months, TEPCO added.
——–Agencies