(Asahi: March 10, 2016 – p. 6)

 The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) announced on March 9 that India has removed its ban on imports of all Japanese food items. Following the accident at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, India had required that all imported Japanese food items be checked for radioactivity, but it suspended the inspections in late February.

 The value of Japan’s exports to India totaled 800.9 million yen in 2014. According to MAFF, a total of 54 countries and regions imposed restrictions such as suspending imports and requiring inspections of products from Japan after the nuclear accident, but the number of countries and regions has now decreased to 37.

 However, the top five destinations for Japan’s exports (Hong Kong, the U.S., Taiwan, China, and South Korea) still ban imports of agricultural, forestry, and fishery products produced in Fukushima Prefecture and other places. As South Korea and Taiwan tightened their restrictions recently, Japan is still engaged in tough negotiations aimed at eliminating the restrictions.