More than a year after China banned Japanese seafood imports in response to Japan’s discharging of treated water from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, Hokkaido is working to increase consumption of its scallops in other countries to make up for the lost China market.
Despite reassurances from Japan and the International Atomic Energy Agency — which monitors the controlled release of water treated to remove radioactive materials except for small traces of tritium — that there is minimal risk to eating Japanese seafood, China remained defiant. Last week, there were reports it was going to lift the ban after an agreement with the IAEA that would allow China to participate in monitoring the water release, but it was unclear what that meant for Japanese exports in the short-term.
For Hokkaido, however, China's ban means local officials were forced to seek out new markets for its seafood products. In particular, scallops for the American market.
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