A government panel on compensation for the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant disaster will apply looser rules on compensation claims from exporters than on companies claiming lost business in Japan.
A government panel on compensation for the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant disaster will apply looser rules on compensation claims from exporters than on companies claiming lost business in Japan.
The panel, which is drafting guidelines for compensation, decided on July 14 that producers from western Japan and elsewhere may be compensated for losses abroad due to radiation fears even though they are not eligible for payments for loss of business in Japan.
During the meeting, the head of the panel, Yoshihisa Nomi, indicated that he agreed that ignorance among foreign consumers of Japan's geography meant that producers from a wider geographical area were likely to have been affected.
To stop liabilities from getting out of hand, the panel plans to specify the products eligible for payments and restrict the time period for which claims can be submitted.
Guidelines for compensation drawn up in May by the panel recommended that businesses selling food products from Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma prefectures, as well as part of Chiba Prefecture, would be eligible for compensation for lost business in Japan due to fears of radioactive contamination. Tourism establishments in Fukushima Prefecture will also be eligible.
But the panel agreed on July 14 that damage done to exporters was more extensive. There have been calls overseas for bans or stricter inspections of all food products from Japan.
Expert research on the actual damage sustained in various economic sectors was presented at the July 14 meeting. One report said major travel agencies' earnings from foreign visitors to Japan fell in April to about 20 percent of levels over the last three years.
The panel plans to discuss whether compensation should be paid for those losses. Payments may also be made for the losses from repatriating visiting workers and cancellations of school enrollment by foreign students.
The panel is expected to publish interim guidelines with more closely defined compensation rules toward the end of July.