Hong Kong authorities gazetted an order detailing the types of aquatic products to be banned, covering live, chilled, frozen, dried and preserved goods, as well as sea salt and seaweed items.

Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan on Tuesday said the government had already taken a conservative approach, limiting restrictions to high-risk coastal prefectures and their neighbouring areas.

Tse also said authorities would check all food imported from Japan to ensure radiation levels met safety standards.

2. How long will the ban last and under what conditions will it be lifted?

There was no time frame for the restrictions and it would partly depend on information to be made available by the Japanese government, including on radiation levels and the monitoring of its discharge plan, Tse said.

From Thursday, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department will ramp up its radioactivity testing of seafood caught in Hong Kong waters, shifting from a monthly to a daily check. The Observatory will also monitor radiation levels in the city waters, checking once a month instead of quarterly.

Hong Kong experts warn over contamination of Japanese seafood from Fukushima plan

3. Is it safe to eat Japanese seafood imported from places other than the 10 areas?

The Tokyo government said the waste water had been filtered to remove most radioactive elements except for tritium, but its levels were said to be negligible after dilution. The UN nuclear regulatory body – the International Atomic Energy Agency – signed off on the plan last month.

The plan has sparked concerns across the region about the long-term effects on the ocean food chain.

Some city specialists warned that contamination risks could not be eliminated for marine animals caught in Japanese waters outside the areas covered by the import ban.

Professor Rudolf Wu Shiu-san, a marine ecology expert at the Education University of Hong Kong, previously warned that oysters, clams, and other bivalve molluscs with two-part hinged shells were at a higher risk of accumulating radioactive substances from the water and their diet.

Hong Kong to ban Japanese seafood from 10 prefectures over Fukushima plan

Kenneth Leung Mei-yee, the Chairman of the Advisory Council on Food and Environmental Hygiene, told a radio programme on Wednesday morning that seafood products from Hokkaido, in the north, or Kyushu, in southern Japan, should be safer.

He said eating sashimi every day would definitely increase the risk of contamination, and Hongkongers travelling in Japan should ask restaurants about the origins of their seafood.

“Consumers should avoid eating larger fish, such as bluefin tuna as they are higher up the food chain and can accumulate more toxins, including radionuclides,” Leung said, referring to the elements that release radiation as they break down.

“Fish living near the bottom of the sea, such as flounder, are also in closer contact with pollutants in the seabed. Hongkongers should eat these in small quantities and do their own risk assessment.”

He added that pregnant women and children should avoid eating sashimi and other high-risk seafood.

No compensation for Hong Kong eateries over Japanese seafood ban: environment chief

4. Can travellers bring in seafood from the targeted areas as souvenirs or gifts?

Residents returning from Japan would still be allowed to bring in a “small amount” of the aquatic products from the targeted areas for their own use or as gifts, said Vivian Lau Lee-kwan, permanent secretary for environment and ecology.

But officials warned it would be illegal to resell the seafood.

“If there’s sufficient evidence proving that the import of the aquatic product is for commercial use, we will collect the evidence and pursue prosecution,” noted Centre for Food Safety controller Christine Wong Wang.

Still, environment minister Tse advised residents not to buy seafood from the areas and bring it back to the city. “The aquatic products from these places may contain radiation, and the risks do exist,” he said.

Hong Kong’s move contrasts with the stance in Macau, where authorities have said they will increase checks to prevent travellers from bringing in the products.

5. What are industry players saying?

Japanese food is very popular in Hong Kong and there are about 2,000 related restaurants.

Japan’s 2022 exports of agricultural, forestry, and fishery products and foods rose by 14.3 per cent year on year to 1.41 trillion yen (US$9.7 billion). Hong Kong is Japan’s second-largest market for agricultural and fisheries exports, after mainland China. The United States is third.

Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades director Martin Chan Keung, also an operator of Japanese restaurants, estimated as many as a third of local Japanese eateries could shut down in the coming six months.

Chan, however, said the restaurants might try to save their business by adding other items to the menu.

He also called for authorities to provide financial help for the sector as he said it would take at least three to six months for affected eateries to recover from reduced business.

Sector sales have plunged 30 to 40 per cent since the announcement of the discharge plan, as consumers had lost confidence in food imported from the country, according to Chan.

6. Where will Hong Kong restaurants find alternative food sources?

Federation director Chan said the catering sector had considered sourcing seafood from other places, such as buying spot prawns from Russia, as well as oysters and sea urchins from Canada. But costs would increase for operators, he said.

“We have studied with suppliers to purchase from other countries, such as Russia, Europe or the Americas, but the food cost … and transport fees are relatively expensive,” he said, adding he would not import from these places because of such factors.

Hong Kong is among the few places, alongside Macau and the mainland, to hit Japan with import restrictions.

The EU last month agreed to remove all restrictions on Japanese food imports imposed after the 2011 disaster.

It said the lifting of measures was because of good results from controls carried out on products by the Japanese government and member states.

The US Food and Drug Administration removed its last import restrictions on Japanese food in 2021.