Japan allays radiation fear for export containers

Japan has assured Bangladesh of sending export containers and ships maintaining the radiation level within the "tolerable" limit for humans in an attempt to assuage fears of importers, officials said Tuesday. A delegation of Japanese embassy in Dhaka met Shipping Ministry officials last week and said they have started attestation of radiation measurement for outgoing containers and ships. Earlier, Bangladesh had extended mandatory radiation check for imports from some Asian countries following the blast in Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit Japan on March 11. Fears sparked globally since radiation spread from the Tsunami-battered nuclear power plant in Japan. Japanese officials then reported traces of radioactive elements in milk, spinach, water and rain in northern and central Japan. "The commercial counsellor and other officials of Japanese embassy in Dhaka met us last week and informed us of the measures taken by their government to ensure radiation-free exports," a senior official of the Ministry of Shipping told the FE. The delegation said the Japanese authority has set a four-point guideline for measuring radiation dose levels of export containers to provide foreign port authorities proper access to accurate data and issue attestations concerning levels of radioactivity. "The government of Japan believes that the scheme will leave no doubt about the safety of all Japanese exports," the delegation said in a memo. It said the newly added radio active measurement and attestation scheme on containers and ships, which start from the ports of Tokyo and Yokohama, is intended to meet calls for further strengthening radiation-related measures at ports. Bangladesh mainly imports high-valued steel, capital machinery and motor vehicles from Japan and their value is around $1.0 billion. It also imports some motor parts from the crisis-hit area where radiation level has been found abnormally high. However, according to trade officials, Bangladesh does not import food, agriculture and consumer products from Japan.