Malaysia Examines Japanese Products to Anticipate Contamination of Radioactive Materials

ILLUSTRATION/UNSPLASH/Kilian Karger

JAKARTA - Malaysia will carry out phase four inspection of food products imported from Japan following the planned release of Fukushima's treated radioactive waste water on Thursday, August 24.

Director General of Health Malaysia Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan said the Ministry of Health Malaysia (KKM) through the Food Quality and Safety Section had monitored food products imported from Japan from May 2011 to April 2012.

In addition, a special program was carried out in 2019 where 102 product samples were analyzed and did not exceed the specified levels.

With the notification of the planned release of Fukushima radioactive wastewater, the fourth stage of inspection will be carried out at the country's entry point for high-risk food products imported from Japan, for analysis of radioactive content.

As reported by ANTARA, on Wednesday, August 23, based on KKM data, in the period 2022 to June 2023, seafood products were among the highest imported from Japan, followed by fruit and vegetable products, and the rest were processed food and beverages with an overall higher value. of 880 million ringgit (approximately IDR 2.891 trillion).

Radzi said that KKM understands consumer concerns regarding this issue. Therefore monitoring at the entrance to the country and markets in the country is carried out to ensure food safety is guaranteed.

The Japanese government announced that it will start disposing of treated radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima NPP into the sea on August 24, 2023. The preparations for disposing of the radioactive water were carried out by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which manages the Fukushima Daiichi NPP.

In the announcement, the Japanese Government said that if the radioactivity level exceeded the standard, they would take appropriate action, including not disposing of it or stopping the release.

Monitoring involves the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in sea areas in layers, including monitoring of water treated in tanks, and real-time monitoring.