Hong Kong has spent HK$10 million on enhanced food safety checks since the city banned seafood from parts of Japan and expanded radiation inspections on all Japanese food imports.
Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan told lawmakers at a meeting on Tuesday that the city had invested HK$6 million on radiation inspection equipment, and another HK$3.8 million on manpower to carry out the reinforced safety checks, implemented since late August.
“At the moment the burden is not very big, and it is part of our system for protecting food safety in Hong Kong,” he said in Cantonese.
The environment chief’s comments, made at the Panel on Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene, came as Japan began its second phase of releasing treated wastewater from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant last week. The plant was damaged by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami in March 2011.
Hong Kong introduced the radiation checks and banned the import of seafood from 10 places including Fukushima and Tokyo on August 24, the same day that Japan started discharging treated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean.
The government – which has called Japan’s move to release the wastewater over a 30-year period “irresponsible” – said it has no plans to relax its restrictions.
On Japanese food imports that are not restricted, authorities have been conducting “comprehensive radiological tests” to ensure that radiation levels are within safe limits before they are released from the airport. All food imports have passed the tests so far.
According to the government, authorities spot check around 150 samples of Japanese food products daily, while the rest are inspected with hand-held radiation devices.
Globally, the reaction to Japan’s move has been muted. The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said in July that the discharge was in line with international standards.
Erik Yim, a lawmaker representing commercial interests, asked Tse whether the government would consider raising import taxes on Japanese food products to cover the increased expenditure.
In response, Tse said there was no intention to do so.
“But of course, if we find out that there are problems with the Japanese food… we will definitely strengthen our management of it,” he added.
Since the government tightened its import measures, restaurateurs have complained that the prolonged checks at the airport had caused food delivery delays. Political analysts have said that politics play a role in the authorities’ response to Japan’s move, with China having banned Japanese seafood entirely.
‘Water will flow and fish will swim’
Lawmakers have expressed support for the government’s reaction to Japan’s decision to discharge the treated wastewater. Some have also called on authorities to expand the import restrictions to cover a wider area.
Legislator Chan Hoi-yan – who chairs the food safety panel – said Japan was not just releasing one round, but multiple rounds, of wastewater. She asked whether the government may consider further tightening restrictions to cover other cities in Japan, or even other countries.
“Water will flow and fish will swim… we also have to check [seafood from] other places,” Chan said.
Tse said in response that the government had banned seafood from the 10 places in Japan after evaluating that the nuclear concentration would be highest in Fukushima, and that by the time the water has flowed out, it would be diluted.
Lawmaker Bill Tang, who joined a petition in August outside the Japanese consulate to protest the country’s move, asked whether the government’s ban covered food on airplanes.
“Many Hong Kong people like to go to Japan for holiday. If the… airline’s meal uses ingredients from Fukushima, will that be subject to any restrictions? Is it disallowed under the law, or is it a legal grey area?” he said.
Tse answered: “If they are airline meals supplied from Hong Kong, they must follow the laws in our jurisdiction. But if the airline meals are supplied from other countries, for example flying from Japan back [to Hong Kong], those will not be subject to our restrictions.”
While there have been no incidents of Japanese food imports exceeding radiation levels, authorities said there had been seven cases in which importers were suspected of breaching import control measures. Most were said to not have provided the necessary documentation needed for some Japanese food imports.
The latest was a batch of frozen chicken wings imported from Ibaraki prefecture that were imported to the city last Friday. The food was “not accompanied with a radiation certificate,” the Centre for Food Safety said.
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