The government Monday instructed four prefectures in eastern Japan to suspend shipments of vegetables and milk found to be contaminated with radiation in excess of government limits.
The government Monday instructed four prefectures in eastern Japan to suspend shipments of vegetables and milk found to be contaminated with radiation in excess of government limits.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said shipments of spinach and "kakina," a leafy vegetable, from Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma prefectures, as well as milk from Fukushima Prefecture, would be suspended.
He said the suspension would "continue for the time being" without specifying a time frame.
Edano said the measures, which apply to the entirety of each prefecture, were taken in line with the special nuclear disaster emergency preparedness law following Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant accident.
"The levels (of radiation in vegetables) are not high enough to have an effect on humans, so we ask that people remain calm," Edano said at a news conference. "Since the shipments will be halted, products sold will not, in principle, affect health."
Edano said the blanket measures were meant to prevent rumors from damaging agricultural production in the four prefectures. The government and TEPCO are expected to compensate farmers for any losses incurred by the suspension of the shipments.
"We cannot predict what the amount will be," Edano said. "But in principle, TEPCO, which caused the nuclear accident, will bear responsibility. The government will properly cover where TEPCO cannot fully compensate."
The move comes as the government set tentative standards for radiation levels following leakage of radiation at the Fukushima plant. At the request of the health ministry, prefectures conducted inspections on agricultural produce.
As of Sunday, officials found traces of radioactive iodine and cesium exceeding allowable limits in spinach and kakina from the four prefectures, as well as "shungiku," another leafy vegetable, from Chiba Prefecture.
Shipments of shungiku from Chiba Prefecture would not be suspended because levels of radiation exceeded government standards only in products from a northern area of the prefecture.
Edano suggested that the types of produce subject to suspension could increase.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, worried about a possible vegetable shortage, has requested the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations to make up the shortfall with uncontaminated vegetables.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, meanwhile, has asked the Food Safety Commission to assess the potential health implications of eating such vegetables.
In Tochigi Prefecture, levels of radioactive iodine and cesium that exceeded government standards were detected in spinach. The level of radioactivity in kakina matched the upper limit of the government's standards.
The prefectural government had already asked the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JA), which is in charge of distribution, to halt shipping of spinach and kakina and to issue a recall for items already shipped. No traces of radioactivity were detected in milk produced in the prefecture.
In Gunma Prefecture, levels of iodine and cesium that exceeded the government standard were detected in spinach and kakina, respectively. The prefecture had also asked JA to halt the shipping of such products.
High levels of iodine were detected in shungiku from Asahi, Chiba Prefecture, by the Tokyo metropolitan government, which suspended sales of 90 kilograms of the vegetable already in the market. The governmental body will stop all deliveries of farm and animal products from Asahi.
In Fukushima Prefecture, milk with up to 17 times the standard level of radioactive iodine was found in four locations. The milk has not yet gone on sale, and the prefectural government has asked all dairy farmers to stop shipments until radiation levels are within normal limits and the milk is judged as safe for human consumption.
The prefecture also requested the JA to refrain from shipping any vegetables grown in open air in the prefecture.
Spinach with up to 27 times the limit of radioactive iodine and up to four times the level of cesium were detected in Ibaraki Prefecture. However, radiation levels were low in many other products in the prefecture, including tomatoes, berries, cucumbers, "nira" (Chinese chives), "mizuna," "chingensai," lotus root, cabbages, leeks, green peppers and lettuce.
Niigata Prefecture also tested radiation levels in farm products sold in the prefecture but found all produce to be within the standard level set by the government.