Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi vowed Thursday to do all he can to have remaining food import restrictions, imposed by foreign countries in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear accident, lifted based on science.
"It is extremely regrettable that some countries and regions continue to impose restrictions on imports of Japanese food products, even a decade after the disaster," Motegi said in a statement on the 10th anniversary of the crisis, which was triggered by a massive quake and tsunami.
"The government of Japan will make its utmost efforts, based on scientific evidence, to have the restrictions lifted as early as possible and advance further efforts to increase Japanese exports of agricultural, forestry and fishery products," he said.