According to a report by Japan's Kyodo News Agency on June 30, the European Union plans to completely withdraw the import restrictions on Japanese-made food after the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, which is expected to be announced by the end of July.

According to the report, relevant sources from the European Union (EU) recently revealed that the European Commission is in the final stages of coordination and intends to completely withdraw the import restrictions imposed on Japanese-produced food after the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011. It is expected to be announced at the end of July this year at the earliest. once it is revoked, the radioactive substance detection certificate previously required for aquatic products and mushrooms in Fukushima and other 10 counties will no longer be required.

According to reports, the European Commission believes that the withdrawal of restrictions is reasonable based on scientific insights such as monitoring. According to analysis, this matter will also become a topic in the summit meeting between Japan and the European Union to be held in Brussels in July. If the European Union, a member of the 27 European countries, decides to withdraw import restrictions, negotiations between the Japanese government and countries such as China and South Korea that maintain restrictions will become the focus of the future.

After the nuclear accident in 2011, due to concerns about pollution caused by radioactive substances, countries and regions around the world have introduced measures to restrict the import of Japanese agricultural, forestry, aquatic products and food. The European Union also introduced restrictions shortly after the accident. The number of restricted countries and regions once reached 55, but the restrictions have been gradually withdrawn or relaxed. The United States will withdraw it in September 2021, and the European Union will relax restrictions in October 2021. Cultivated mushrooms no longer require documents such as certificates of origin.

On March 11, 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake occurred off the coast of northeastern Japan and triggered a huge tsunami. Affected by both the earthquake and the tsunami, a large amount of radioactive material leaked from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Some areas after the accident remain uninhabitable to this day. According to an assessment by Tepco, the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, it will take 40 years from the moment of the tragedy to finally undo the consequences of the accident at the plant and dismantle the reactors.

On April 13, 2021, the Japanese government officially decided to discharge the treated water from Tokyo Electric Power Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the sea. The treated water contains tritium, a radioactive substance that cannot be removed technically. The discharge time is expected to last for 20 to 30 years.

On June 12, 2023, Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company began a trial run of the nuclear sewage discharge facility at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. The trial run lasted for two weeks. Tepco plans to officially start nuclear sewage discharge this summer.

In March 2023, the South Korean President's Office stated that the South Korean government will never import seafood from Fukushima. According to recent reports by South Korean media, anonymous insiders said that the Japanese government obtained the draft final assessment report of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Fukushima Nuclear Contaminated Water Disposal Technical Working Group in advance, and proposed substantive revisions, exerting undue influence on the conclusions of the final report. Japanese officials gave agency secretariat staff more than 1 million euros.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Japan’s nuclear-contaminated water contains more than 60 types of radioactive nuclides, many of which have no effective treatment technology, and some long-lived nuclides may diffuse with ocean currents and form bio-accumulation effects, which will increase the pollution in the environment. The total amount of radionuclides will cause unpredictable harm to the marine environment and human health. According to data released by Japan in March this year, nearly 70% of the nuclear-contaminated water treated by the multi-nuclide treatment system still fails to meet the standard. If Japan really has the sincerity to negotiate, it should announce the suspension of sea discharge, allow neighboring countries, Pacific island countries and other stakeholders to conduct independent sampling and analysis of nuclear contaminated water, and agree to explore all possible disposal options other than sea discharge.