TRANSCRIPT:
Japan's decision to start pumping nuclear wastewater into the Pacific has seen authorities in China, including in Hong Kong and Macau, impose an immediate ban on Japanese seafood imports.
Wang Wenbin from the Chinese Foreign Ministry says Japan has not adequately considered the consequences of the release.
"Japan's forcible initiation of discharging nuclear-contaminated water into the sea is extremely selfish and highly irresponsible. All stakeholders have the responsibility to take necessary preventive measures."
The Japanese government signed off on the discharge plan two years ago and the International Atomic Energy Agency gave its approval in July.
Scientists say any impact on people or the ocean will be negligible.
Getting rid of the wastewater is a key step in decommissioning the Fukushima plant which was destroyed by a tsunami in 2011.
Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says his country now has the task of convincing China the seafood import ban is unnecessary.
"We have requested China to immediately lift the import ban (on aquatic products from Japan) through diplomatic channels. We will strongly urge the Chinese government to have experts engage in scientific debate on the effects of the Fukushima water release."
The President of the Tokyo Electric Power Company, Tomoaki Kobayakawa, says compensation will be paid to any businesses that lose money.
"If business owners suffer from export bans imposed by foreign governments, we will compensate appropriately for damages. China is Japan’s key trading partner, so regarding safety, we will do our utmost in providing explanations so that the ban will be dropped as soon as possible.”
About 60 per cent of the seafood eaten in Australia is imported, predominantly from Asian countries but the trade with Japan is comparatively small.
Australia exports about $200 million worth of seafood to Japan and Japanese imports account for only $2.3 million while the top import market is Thailand with a trade worth $490 million, followed by Vietnam, China, New Zealand and Indonesia.
The reason why more than half of the seafood eaten is Australia is imported is because Australia exports
The high-value products such as rock lobster, premium tuna and abalone and elects to import lower value products like frozen fillets and canned fish because the Asian imports are cheaper than the locally sourced products.
