Rosselkhoznadzor cuts fish / seafood imports from Japan effective October 16

The restriction is a precautionary measure after the dischage of water from the Fukushima 1 NPP.

Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) joins the temporary restrictive measures of the PRC as from October 16, 2023, as a precautionary measure. The restrictions concerns the import of fish and seafood from Japan. The measure was introduced before the provision of comprehensive information necessary to confirm the safety of aquatic products and compliance with the Eurasian Economic Union requirements, as well as its analysis by its specialists, Rosselkhoznadzor said.

Rosrybolovstvo has previously said that the discharge of Fukushima-1 cooling water does not cause concern. Currently, Russian vessels are not fishing in the area where the water is being released. Ilya Shestakov, the Rosrybolovstvo head, instructed the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) to conduct a comprehensive study to assess the state of aquatic biological resources in the area of distribution of industrial water discharged from Fukushima 1. VNIRO director Kirill Kolonchin has said that the first analyzes did not cause concern among Russian scientists.

Over the past three years, Russia’s import of fish products from Japan plummeted by 93% to 192 tonnes in 2022 (2020 – 2,900 tonnes). The volume of fish and fish product imports from Japan dropped to 112 tonnes in January-July 2023.