The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) has tested 28,784 food product samples imported from Japan for radiation under the measures that commenced August 24 in response to the release of water from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean.
So far, all the products tested by IAM had regular levels of radiation without any issues related to excessive levels of radiation.
On August 24, the local government, following guidelines from the central government of China, banned the import of food products from 10 prefectures and regions of Japan, namely Fukushima, Chiba, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Gunma, Miyagi, Niigata, Nagano, Saitama, and the Tokyo Metropolis, and enforced stricter inspections of all the products arriving from other regions of Japan, which need to be tested for radiation.
According to information from IAM, and before the enforcement of more restrictive measures, the bureau had already performed 23,137 radiation tests on samples of imported Japanese food from January 1 to August 21. It had also collected 160 samples for laboratory radionuclide testing. All tests detected no abnormalities.
On Wednesday, lawmaker and Macau representative to the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China, Chui Sai Peng, expressed in the pages of the local pro-establishment media outlet Macao Daily News his opposition to the continued release of water from Fukushima to the ocean, stating that such a release has grave consequences for the ecosystem of the whole region. The interview with Chui on the topic came right after the statement from the PRC’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemning Japan’s announcement that it would soon be moving to the next phase of the water release.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been monitoring the release of tritiated water and has said that Japan’s plans to release treated water into the sea at Fukushima are consistent with international safety standards and do not pose any risk.
