THE government of China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has proposed relaxing food imports from some of the Japanese prefectures affected by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

In the wake of the Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) of the HKSAR Government’s Food and Environmental Hygiene Department imposed import restrictions on vegetables, fruits and dairy products from five Japanese prefectures — Fukushima and nearby Ibaraki, Tochigi, Chiba and Gunma.

In a proposal submitted to Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo) on Tuesday, the CFS suggested relaxing restrictions on food imports from the four nearby prefectures as long as the goods pass radiation tests and are granted export certificates from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan.

However, it suggested maintaining the ban on food imports from Fukushima prefecture.

The proposal is expected to be discussed by the LegCo next week.

The HKSAR Government’s Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan said Tuesday that the proposal was based on assessments by local authorities, international organizations, as well as some other economists.

“We think at this stage there has been substantial and adequate scientific evidence that the radiation risk of Japanese food is low,” Chan said in a blog, adding that the proposal was also “with a view to addressing the concerns of the public.” (Xinhua)