Russian trawlers fishing in Japanese waters undermine its food safety-related ban on Japanese imports

Seafood

Japan

Regulation & Compliances

Market & Price Trends

Published Mar 5, 2024

Tridge summary

In 2023, South Korea's seafood imports from Japan saw a significant drop of 12.8%, the largest year-on-year decline since 2012. This decrease is attributed to South Korea's ban on seafood imports from eight Japanese prefectures, due to concerns about inconsistent radiation level information following the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Despite a more diplomatic approach towards Japan by South Korea's president, the ban remains. In response, Japan is redirecting its seafood exports to Southeast Asia.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by a state-of-the-art LLM model and is intended for informational purposes only. It is recommended that readers refer to the original article for more context.

Original content

South Korea's seafood imports from Japan fell 12.8 percent by value in 2023, compared with a year earlier, to approximately USD 151.9 million (EUR 140.3 million), according to Korea Customs Service data. The figures are for H.S. Code 03 – “Fish and crustaceans, mollusks and other aquatic invertebrates.” The Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency reported the drop was the biggest year-on-year decline since 2012, the year after Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster, when imports of fish and shellfish fell by 33.3 percent.In 2013, South Korea imposed an import ban on seafood from the eight Japanese prefectures of Fukushima, Ibaraki, Gunma, Miyagi, Iwate, Tochigi, Chiba, and Aomori and added testing requirements for seafood from other prefectures, claiming that Japan had issued inconsistent information about radiation levels. That ban remains in place, despite a warmer diplomatic approach toward Japan by South Korea’s president Yoon Suk Yeol, who took office in 2022. South Korea has generally ...

Source: Seafoodsource