DUBAI // The UAE has lifted its ban on Japanese fresh produce.
Imports were halted after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power plant and caused it to leak radioactive materials.
But following the collection and analysis of 50,000 samples from districts surrounding the plant by Japanese authorities, the Ministry of Environment and Water has lifted the ban.
Items from the provinces surrounding the plant – Fukushima, Goma, Ibaraki, Tuccikja, Miyagi, Kanegwa, Aomori and seven others – will require certificates proving they do not contain harmful levels of radiation.
The documents must also show the items’ date of production.
The ministry said food security, biosecurity and maintaining food safety and consumer health were at the forefront of its objectives.
The International Atomic Energy Agency stated last week that contaminated water could still be leaking from the crippled plant, and called for extra measures to prevent the situation from getting any worse.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority said it feared the disaster – the world’s worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986 – was “in some respects” beyond the ability of the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, to cope with.
