TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) announced on Tuesday (July 23) that it will lift the decade-long ban on food imports from Fukushima, Japan. 

Due to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, Taiwan banned food and agricultural imports from the five prefectures of Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, and Chiba. In 2022, the ban was changed from specific areas to items such as wild bird and animal meat, mushrooms, and "koshiabura" (foraged vegetables), per CNA.

TFDA said in a press release that it will amend regulations to allow all products to be imported into Taiwan. TFDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said all food imports would undergo batch-by-batch inspections to ensure health and safety.

According to Lin, 235,000 batches of Japanese food imports have been inspected for radiation since 2011, with only slight amounts detected. All countries that previously imposed import controls on Japan have lifted their bans, except South Korea, China, and Russia.