Britain to lift import restriction on food products from Fukushima

Well, if it makes Kishida feel good.

Is there a point in sending Japanese mushrooms halfway round the world and what is the value of sending items from a region where there has been a breach of nuclear containment and where there is ongoing radioactive discharge into the environment?

Kishida is obviously trying to score votes from the country folk and Boris is hoping Japan will buy British military equipment!

Britain to lift import restriction on food products from Fukushima

Is Japan biggest exporter food to UK? No it's on bottom, number 50 on the list. So there's no economy gain to really push Fukushima to UK, it's more about Japan PR abroad.

https://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/en/Country/GBR/Year/2019/TradeFlow/Import/Partner/by-country/Product/16-24_FoodProd

Is there a point in sending Japanese mushrooms halfway round the world

Like sending beers from the other parts of the world, including UK, to Japan

So the G7 meeting wasn't a complete waste of time. The 3 apples and two kilos of fish sent to the UK from Fukushima make it all worthwhile.

All this to get Japan more on the west's side, no doubt. I hope these products will be clearly labelled so consumers can make their own choices.

big mistake

Oh dear. Guess it doesnt matter anyway. The extreme weather events, which seem to be occurring more frequently every year, will probably kill you before the cancer does. Picture Mad Max, but less exciting.

As if anyone in Britain can even point out Fukushima on a map.

Or even know the area exists.

Even without restrictions, they weren’t gonna import Fukushima goods anyways, what’s the difference?

I think the real reason they lifted is the exchange rate issue. Japanese food from fukushima is now 20% off.

So are the british going to start eating ongiri, and mushroom all the sudden?

Thats proof there is a global food shortage.

Well, there's plenty of gaps on the shelves where they can go, Brexit having trashed our trade with the enormous trading bloc that is a couple of dozen airmiles from us. Instead, we can import stuff from Japan, the long way round, as Putin blocked the shorter route.

Politicians fiddle whilst the world burns. None of them are worth the wages they pay themselves.

What is important is for LDP to win seats in Fukushima!

I could probably carry all the food that gets imported to Britain from Fukushima in my hands.

Lifting import restrictions does not mean people will buy them. I wouldn't buy any prodcue from Fukushima.

Kishida is obviously trying to score votes from the country folk and Boris is hoping Japan will buy British military equipment!

At the same time, they are very angry that the agricultural industry of Japan is rapidly declining due to unequal treaties from FTAs and the American agricultural agreement under Trump. Japanese farmers are being economically wrecked even with subsidies as Japan's self-sufficiency in food and everything else reaches an all-time low.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/japans-farms-weakening-yen-adds-slow-burning-discontent-2022-06-26/

Japanese LDP voters and ultranationalists failed to realize that LDP is selling the country to the highest, foreign bidders. These bidders are mostly Asian elites who want to see Japan as a new laundromat akin to the UK.

smart move,put fukushima water on top of list.

I didn’t think the UK ever imported much food from Japan, let alone Fukushima. This announcement is just a load of puff. Even if people did see this stuff in their local Sainsbury’s, it’s very unlikely they’d want to buy it.

I was just in Fukushima last week. I’m pretty sure the sashimi I had was locally sourced. No signs of radiation poisoning yet! Not sure why it takes 11 + years to lift the import ban.

Just don't it from Fukushima and mind your own business or leave here

shogun36

As if anyone in Britain can even point out Fukushima on a map.

Or even know the area exists.

As most of us watched with horror the unfolding of the tsunami and consequent explosions in the two reactors on British TV which provided comprehensive detailed maps to the locations (they tend to be quite good at that sort of thing) I would suggest a hell of a lot of people in Britain now know where it is.

Whether there will be any great enthusiasm for food products from there is another matter.

@Disillusioned How would you know the "PRODUCE" is from Fukushima?

Lifting import restrictions does not mean people will buy them. I wouldn't buy any prodcue from Fukushima.

As if anyone in Britain can even point out Fukushima on a map.

> Or even know the area exists.

> What absolute rubbish.

Like it or not, the British knowledge of the world is far superior to that of the Japanese. Not that it takes much.

@shogun36

As if anyone in Britain can even point out Fukushima on a map.

Or even know the area exists.

Want to bet on that? Pretty snotty statement, that... very arrogant.

Kishida is obviously trying to score votes from the country folk and Boris is hoping Japan will buy British military equipment!

At the same time, they are very angry that the agricultural industry of Japan is rapidly declining due to unequal treaties from FTAs and the American agricultural agreement under Trump. Japanese farmers are being economically wrecked even with subsidies as Japan's self-sufficiency in food and everything else reaches an all-time low.

Japan has only itself to blame. Japans protectionism became became counter productive two or three decades ago.

I doubt these products will be marketed as being from Fukushima .

kaimycahlJune 29  09:47 pm JST

@Disillusioned How would you know the "PRODUCE" is from Fukushima? 

Lifting import restrictions does not mean people will buy them. I wouldn't buy any prodcue from Fukushima.

Kyo wa heiwa dayo neToday  06:15 am JST

I doubt these products will be marketed as being from Fukushima .

UK labelling laws.

I have never ever seen fruit or vegetables from Japan on UK supermarket shelves. I can't think of any mushrooms that Japan has, that the UK doesn't, that would create a market for such products. Like many others have said, this is pure puff.......so Kishida can tell the farmers and fishermen of Fukushima that he has their backs and.....well BoJo is soiling his own nest anyway, so why not set it on fire with produce from Fukushima.....whose name is as radioactive to people in the UK as the plant itself. Yes, they have no idea where Fukushima is, how big it is or if it's a radioactive wasteland awash with zombies.....but the word "FUKUSHIMA" they know and associate with "radiation".

Such a shame because Fukushima is such a beautiful part of the country. I'm often up camping around the lakes of Inawashiro and Bandai-san in summer and have been snowboarding plenty times in winter.

Not sure why all the negativity for a positive news story, from people who have no idea what products are exported or imported. I was surprised to find some UK caught fish in my local supermarket, so trade does exist.

That isn't true though, and you know it.

Well, there's plenty of gaps on the shelves where they can go, Brexit having trashed our trade with the enormous trading bloc that is a couple of dozen airmiles from us.

Kyo wa heiwa dayo neToday  06:15 am JST

I doubt these products will be marketed as being from Fukushima .

Agreed.

Personally, will not purchase any produce or whatever from Fukushima, even when it is a lower price.

Knowing the reason for that lower price.

Just PR. No government department in UK responsible will know anything about it and therefore take years to implement!

We are still trying to get Department for Transport to acknowledge and implement mutual recognition of vehicle standards which was part of the "UK / Japan sign historic free trade agreement" - hailed as a trophy first trade deal post BREXIT. This was almost 2 years ago.

Back to Fukushima. Its never been policed or checked anyway so absolutely no change.

John NounJune 29  10:32 pm JST

As if anyone in Britain can even point out Fukushima on a map.

Of course. Its a city on the island of Kyushu in the south.