TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan has lifted restrictions on the import of Japanese food from five prefectures imposed after the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, reports said Friday.

The change comes a day after President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) was seen eating Japanese seafood in a reaction to tension between China and Japan. Taiwan government members have encouraged Taiwanese to buy more Japanese products and to travel to Japan to show their support for the country in the face of Chinese threats.

The Food and Drug Administration said Friday that food imports from the five Japanese prefectures impacted by the disaster would no longer be subjected to special restrictions, per UDN. The five prefectures were Fukushima, Chiba, Ibaraki, Gunma, and Tochigi. A ban on imports from the area had been replaced in 2022 by a risk assessment based on products.

Last year, Taiwan again adjusted its policies based on international practice and scientific evidence. In a statement Friday, the Food and Drug Administration said that public data from the International Atomic Energy Agency showed that Japan had taken effective measures to guarantee the safety of its food supply chain.

Since 2011, Taiwan has checked 270,000 food items from Japan for radiation, and not a single one has revealed problems, the administration said. Since no objections had been recorded, from now on, food products from Japan can be treated like imports from elsewhere, only subject to checks at the place of origin and at borders.

The only countries still restricting Japanese food imports are China, including Hong Kong and Macau, Russia, and South Korea, the administration said.