The health ministry says that the government will only allow food imports from areas affected by the Fukushima nuclear disaster after the public understands the potential health risks involved in consuming the food.
The ministry made the comment on Monday after pressure from lawmakers to ease restrictions on importing Japanese food products.
Taiwan’s FDA imposed a ban on food products from five Japanese prefectures after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011. However, authorities recently discovered that some Japanese food products from areas subject to the ban have made their way into Taiwan. The products were given falsified place of origin labels.
Health Minister Chiang Been-huang said Monday that that the government will not consider allowing these products into Taiwan until the public is comfortable with them.
“When making changes to food regulations, I think our priority is safety and communicating risks. We need to communicate more with the public because many people still have doubts about these products," said Jiang.
As of noon Monday, the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) had tested 451 food items from the five Japanese prefectures subject to the ban. None had been found to contain radioactive substances.