萬國法律事務所

The 2011 Tohoku earthquake off the east coast of Japan triggered a tsunami that caused nuclear accidents, primarily the level 7 meltdowns at three reactors in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant complex. In order to prevent the import of Japanese food products contaminated by radiation, Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare announced new regulations on May 15, 2015.

Under the new regulations, importers of Japanese food products must obtain a place of origin certificate issued by Japanese authorities or private organizations authorized by the Japanese Government that identify the prefecture where the items were grown.

The new regulations were promulgated following discoveries that hundreds of food products manufactured in five Japanese prefectures located nearby the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant had illegally entered Taiwan with false origin labeling. Tokyo called the new regulation an “approach lacking a scientific basis,” but, Taipei has refused to revoke the policy. Japan will continue to communicate and negotiate with Taiwan before a decision is made by Tokyo over whether to take the case to the WTO.