Announcing the decision at a news conference on Tuesday, spokesman Lo Ping-cheng noted that many governments have relaxed similar prohibitions, “with only Taiwan and China still completely banning food imports from areas related to Fukushima”. He added that even Hong Kong and Macao had eased their restrictions.
Xu Fu, director of Taiwan’s food safety office, said the authorities would put in place inspection standards that are stricter than international practices, including those of the US and EU, to ensure there are no health risks stemming from radiation.
Analysts say the Tsai Ing-wen government’s decision is designed to shore up support from Japan for Taiwan’s bid to join the 11-member Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Taipei and Beijing both applied for membership last year.
The move is “driven by a desire to join the CPTPP, leveraging on strong relations with the US and Japan”, said Taipei-based political analyst Brian Hioe. “Tsai’s administration would likely hope to reduce dependency on the Chinese market for key industries such as the agricultural sector through admittance to the CPTPP.”
In Tuesday’s briefing, Lo, a minister without portfolio, said that dismantling unreasonable trade restrictions was “definitely not a guarantee” but removed one obstacle against Taiwan’s CPTPP accession.
Xu pointed out that existing CPTPP members had lifted their restrictions and cited six risk assessments and research reports showing the food is not harmful.
After the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami triggered meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, President Tsai’s predecessor Ma Ying Jeou prohibited imports of food products from five Japanese prefectures over contamination fears — Fukushima, Gunma, Chiba, Ibaraki and Tochigi.
The ban has been kept despite the EU and several countries having partially or fully lifted such measures, including India, Vietnam and Indonesia. Apart from Taiwan and China, South Korea maintains restrictions on seafood from the area.
Tsai’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party has wind in its sails after it trumped the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) in recent local elections and referendums.
The KMT last month expressed “resolute opposition” to opening Taiwan’s market to Fukushima imports. Similarly, it had also opposed dropping import restrictions on American beef from cattle over 30 months old and pork treated with ractopamine, an animal feed additive.
Tsai decided to lift those rules last August 2020, and in December 2021, the public voted against re-imposing the pork ban despite opposition efforts to stir unease.
“The Tsai administration is aiming to leverage on its strong position domestically, with the Kuomintang having faced a rout in the December referendum,” Hioe said. The government is hoping for similar public acceptance of its decision on Fukushima while removing a thorny issue in Japan relations.
In a 2018 referendum, the public had voted to keep the Fukushima ban. But Lo told reporters that the circumstances had changed since.
Hioe said that “Tsai was apparently able to get her party to fall in line on this risky issue, which perhaps reflects the strength of her position in the DPP.”
Among those backing the decision is the pro-DPP daily newspaper Liberty Times. In an editorial last month, it said that “there is no better way” to demonstrate Taiwan’s readiness for the CPTTP “than to entirely lift the ban on food imports from the five prefectures”.
The editorial suggested a strengthened Tsai may be primed to make other big decisions before the 2024 presidential election begins to dominate political discourse.
“Next year, Taiwan will need to brace for a bitterly fought campaign for the 2024 presidential election,” the paper said.
“There is, therefore, no better time than now for the president to go full steam ahead in implementing her policies.”