By Kelvin Chen, Staff Writer — Taiwan News, Thursday 17 March 2022
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Food imports from Fukushima will not be affected, in principle, by the earthquake that struck the Japanese prefecture on Wednesday night (16 March), Cabinet Spokesperson Lou Ping-cheng said on Thursday. A 7.4-magnitude earthquake occurred off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture on Wednesday night. As of Thursday morning, four people are known to have died as a result, and 97 are injured, according to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Cabinet Spokesperson Lou said he was saddened by the earthquake and that Taiwan will provide assistance to Japan if needed. He added that according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, no Taiwanese students in Japan were affected. The Taiwanese government officially ended its ban on the import of food from areas of Japan affected by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster on 8 February 2022. Food products from Fukushima, Gunma, Chiba, Ibaraki and Tochigi that pass Taiwan’s food safety regulations are now allowed to be imported.