The Philippines has lifted a seven-year-old ban on the importation of several fish species from Fukushima Prefecture in Japan.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, in a post on his social media page, said the lifting of the ban is a “gesture of goodwill” during the recent four-day working visit of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and his Cabinet members to Japan.
Piñol said the order lifting the importation ban signed on May 27 was officially presented to Japanese Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Yoshikawa Takamori.
The lifting of the ban, which had covered species such as cherry salmon, sand lance, Japanese dace, and ayu from Fukushima, ended a seven-year issue which Piñol said had strained agricultural and fisheries trade between the Philippines and Japan.
“I consider the ban, issued by the previous administration, as just a bureaucratic gobbledygook and an over-reaction to an issue which did not really affect the Philippines,” Piñol said.
“It was a ridiculous bureaucratic exercise for the simple reason the fish species included in the ban are not imported by the Philippines anyway,” he added.
The ban on certain fish species started in 2012 after the nuclear crisis in Japan which saw radionuclide levels in fish and fishery products in Fukushima, Ibaraki, and Gunma exceed provisional regulation limits.
Piñol said that with the ban lifted, the current administration “is showing goodwill to the Japanese government as it moves to promote the entry of more Philippine agriculture products” to Japan.
Further, he said the Philippines is also seeking a lower tariff for bananas and pineapples, and looking for the entry of Hash avocado in the Japanese market.
