Japan says China will resume Japanese seafood imports it halted over Fukushima water discharge

TOKYO — Japan said Friday that China will resume imports of Japanese seafood that it banned in August 2023 over the discharge of wastewater from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea.

Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said the two sides reached an agreement after Japanese and Chinese officials met in Beijing and the imports will resume once the necessary paperwork is done.

China did not immediately comment.

The step is based on an agreement between the two nations that Beijing was to take steps toward ending the ban by joining water sampling missions as part of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The Fukushima Daiichi plant was damaged in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, triggering meltdowns in its three reactors and causing large amounts of radioactive water to accumulate.

The wastewater was treated and heavily diluted before its release into the sea but remained slightly radioactive.