China and Japan reach agreement on Fukushima water discharge – Observer

The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Friday that Beijing and Tokyo have reached a consensus on the management of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, after months of negotiations.

In a statement, Chinese diplomacy said that the The agreement includes commitments by Japan to respect international law and minimize “impacts on human health and the environment.”

An international monitoring mechanism will also be created under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), with the active participation of China and other interested countries, allowing the collection of independent samples and the carrying out of comparative laboratory analyses.

The ministry also said that China will “gradually resume” imports of seafood from Japan, which were suspended in August 2023 following the discharge of treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean.

China will “gradually resume imports of Japanese aquatic products that comply with regulatory standards,” the statement reads.

Beijing last year suspended the import of aquatic products of Japanese origin in order to “prevent the risk of radioactive contamination”.

The suspension covered all products of aquatic origin, including fish, shellfish, molluscs, crustaceans and algae.

The release of water began nearly 12 and a half years after the March 2011 nuclear meltdown, caused by a massive earthquake and tsunami.

The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, said at the time that “IAEA experts are on the ground to serve as the eyes of the international community and ensure that the discharge is being carried out as planned, in accordance with the agency’s safety standards”.

The UN agency also launched a portal to provide real-time data on the discharge and reiterated assurances that the IAEA is monitoring the operations on the ground.