Friday, March 23, 2012

Hong Kong to Resume Import of Meat, Eggs from Fukushima and Other Affected Areas

Hong Kong will resume importing the meat and eggs from Fukushima Prefecture and 4 other prefectures in Kanto most affected by the nuclear fallout.

Why? Because there will be an official government piece of paper accompanying the meat, attesting the safety from radiation contamination. Bureaucrats will be bureaucrats, whether it's Japan or Hong Kong. Formality is all that matters.

From Yomiuri Shinbun (3/23/2012):

東京電力福島第一原子力発電所事故の影響で香港への輸出が規制されている福島県など5県産の食肉と卵の輸出が再開される見通しとなった。

Export of meat and eggs to Hong Kong from 5 prefectures including Fukushima will resume shortly. The export was halted after the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident.

 鹿野農相が23日の閣議後記者会見で明らかにした。輸出に必要な検査証明書の書式が決まったためで、今後1週間程度の手続きを経て再開される。

Minister of Agriculture Kano disclosed the news during the press conference after the cabinet meeting on March 23. The format of the inspection certificate has been agreed upon, and the export will resume in about one week.

 日本の農林水産物の香港向け輸出額は1111億円(2011年)と全体の約4分の1を占め、国・地域別で最も多い。香港への輸出再開は、同様の理由で輸入を規制している中国の判断にも影響を与えそうだ。

Hong Kong is the largest market for Japanese agricultural and marine products. In 2011, the amount was 111.1 billion yen, one-quarter of the total export. Resumption of export to Hong Kong may affect the decision by China, who has halted import from Japan for the same reason.

 香港は、福島、群馬、栃木、茨城、千葉の5県産の卵と食肉の輸入を再開する条件として、日本政府に放射性物質の検査証明書を作成するよう要求していたが、これまで、証明書に記入する内容などが決まらず、輸出が再開できなかった。

Hong Kong had demanded that the Japanese government issue inspection certificates as a condition to resume import of eggs and meat from Fukushima, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, and Chiba. Up till now, the officials couldn't agree on what to put on the certificates, which prevented the restart of the trade.

Hong Kong, Taiwan, China are big importers of Japanese produce, which (used to) fetch premium for the look, taste, and safety.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

The officials of Hongkong are lost too

Hikarius said...

The Hongkong government has made a statement to deny it, but given the lack of credibility of the governments in both Hongkong and Japan, it's just another example of Newspeak. In the end, it's the powerless people in both countries who will be the losers.

Atomfritz said...

Maybe the radiant Japanese delicatessen will be hard to sell now, even if they are allowed to be imported again now.
Market will show.

I really doubt that Japanese foodstuff will be in high demand when the EU import ban gets lifted...

Anonymous said...

What a corrupted way to disappoint the trusted.

Anonymous said...

can they import japanese debris too?

Chibaguy said...

I do not know if this holds true now but the Singapore government reacted with common sense. They not only banned items they charged shippers for bringing contamination into the country.

I am all for Japan recovering but how the government actively made sure contamination would not be controlled they deserve the scrutiny.

Anonymous said...

How many wealthy people are moving out of Hong Kong?

I saw one of those reality real-state shows and someone from Hong Kong was buying an almost $5 million dollar condo in New York City.

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