Japan on Wednesday sought to reassure people in Malaysia about the safety of Japanese seafood despite concerns about the release of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea.
Ichiro Miyashita, the minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, served scallops at an event in Kuala Lumpur, as part of efforts to further expand Japan's seafood export market to Southeast Asia amid China's blanket ban on Japanese seafood imports.
"Please taste it," Miyashita said to local people at a shopping mall at the heart of the Malaysian capital, as he served scallops from Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, neighboring Fukushima.
The event was held the same day on the sidelines of a meeting of ministers in charge of agriculture and forestry from Japan and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Miyashita told reporters after the event that while overall exports of seafood to the country have seen a year-on-year drop of 19 percent in August, individual products like scallops have increased at 41 percent.
He also reaffirmed the safety of Japanese seafood in a meeting with his Malaysian counterpart Mohamad Sabu, who told reporters afterward that "fish from Japan is safe" based on the country's inspections.
Ahead of the release of the first batch of treated water in August, Malaysia imposed a Level 4 inspection for "high-risk products" from Japan, making inspection and sampling of such imports mandatory.
