Imported Japanese food must come with radiation inspection certificates for its place of origin; lifting of the ban on five prefectures and cities is under discussion

Recently, many readers have been concerned about the safety of imported Japanese food. Under the rules of the competent authorities, food shipped from Japan must be accompanied by a certificate of origin and a radiation inspection certificate before it can be customs-declared and inspected; as for whether imports of agricultural products from the five prefectures and cities affected by the nuclear disaster, such as Fukushima, will be relaxed, officials say this is still under discussion and no decision has been reached. Today let's talk about what exactly these two certificates are screening for, and what to watch out for when shopping.

What do the certificate of origin and radiation testing each check?

A certificate of origin is like a food's "ID card," clearly stating the region of production so that border inspection units can check whether it falls within a controlled area, and making it easier for consumers to trace the source. Radiation testing, on the other hand, targets agricultural products that may have been affected by the nuclear disaster, measuring the residual levels of radioactive nuclides such as iodine-131, cesium-134 and cesium-137. These nuclides have different half-lives: iodine-131 decays relatively quickly, while cesium-137 may persist in soil and crops for a long time, so it has always been a key item in testing. Testing mostly uses precise gamma spectroscopy analysis, and results must meet the importing country's limit standards to pass.

Why is the lifting of the ban on products from the five prefectures and cities being considered so cautiously?

Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba are the five prefectures and cities most directly affected when the nuclear disaster occurred, and stricter border control measures have long been applied to them. Whether to lift the ban involves multiple factors, including the actual testing data for agricultural products from each area, the limit reference values of the Codex Alimentarius, and consumer confidence, so the official stance is quite cautious and it is still under assessment and discussion. No matter how the management approach is adjusted in the future, the specific rules should be based on the competent authorities' official announcements, and unverified rumors should not be trusted.

What can consumers do when shopping?

First, identify the origin labeling, pay attention to the place-of-production information on the product packaging or label, and if necessary ask the seller to show the radiation inspection certificate. Second, choose legitimate import channels; food that has undergone batch-by-batch border inspection is relatively better protected. Third, stay alert to products of unknown origin with unclear labeling. For people working in agriculture, this matter is also a mirror: a complete origin traceability and inspection record is the foundation for opening markets and winning trust. Whether domestically produced or imported, transparent and standardized production management is the best passport.