China to monitor food imported from Japan for radiation

China to monitor food imported from Japan for radiation

2011-03-21 22:26:41 GMT+7 (ICT)

BEIJING, CHINA (BNO NEWS) -- China on Monday informed that it will monitor food imported from Japan for radiation due to the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), China's quality watchdog agency, asked local authorities to test Japanese food to ensure the safety of the imports.

According to China's Ministry of Commerce $595 million worth of agricultural products were imported from Japan in 2010. That amount represented 0.33 percent of Japan's exports to China.

Bilateral traded between the two Asian countries reached $303.06 billion. China has been the biggest trading partner and export destination for Japan, according to 2010 figures.

On March 11, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake followed by a tsunami killed 21,911 people as of Monday. In addition, the Fukushima nuclear power plant was damaged in which has been labeled as the worst crisis in Japan's history.

On Friday, Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency raised its accident severity level from 4 to 5 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale of 7. On Monday, smoke was seen at No. 2 reactor.

In 1979, the U.S. set the severity level at 5 during the Three Mile Island accident. The only level 7 incident in history was 1986's Chernobyl catastrophe.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-03-21