Taiwan’s government says it will lift an 11-year-old ban on Japanese food products from the Fukushima area later this month.

The ban will be lifted on February 18.

Concerns over the radioactive contamination prompted Taiwan’s ban on food and agricultural imports from five Japanese prefectures in 2011, shortly after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power accident in March of that year.

President Tsai Ing-wen, who spoke on the cabinet’s decision in a Facebook post, said the country had to “go global and stand in the world” by joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

However, the cabinet’s spokesperson, Lo Ping-cheng, said restrictions would remain on certain food items that carry a greater risk of nuclear radiation, such as mushrooms and the meat of wild animals.

Mr Ping-Cheng stated that aside from Taiwan, only China was still rejecting all food and agriculture products from Japan.

He disclosed that Taiwan’s regulations had been modified to ensure food safety and would be officially announced in late February.

“Our border controls will be accordingly tightened to check such Japanese food and agricultural products by batch,” added Mr Ping-cheng. 

(dpa/NAN)