With fears, sometimes unfounded, mounting that food and water might be contaminated by radiation, the government has established a new rule governing bans on contaminated agricultural products.
Until now, a shipping ban was applied to an entire prefecture if agricultural products were found to be contaminated with radiation at levels above legal limits in any part of the prefecture. Under the new rule, designed to reduce the infliction of financial damage on farmers whose products are not contaminated, shipping bans will apply only to municipalities where the contaminated agricultural products originated and bans will be lifted when no contamination is detected for three consecutive weeks.
As the rice-planting season nears, the government should also issue guidelines on areas where rice can be safely planted to avoid unnecessary troubles and expenditures.