Japanese Food Aid Fails to Reach Expats in Wuhan

Tokyo, Jan. 30 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government has failed to deliver food aid to Japanese nationals in the Chinese city of Wuhan hit by a coronavirus outbreak, due to procedural flaws on the Japanese side, informed sources told Jiji Press on Thursday. The food products, including about 5,000 ready-made rice packets and about 1,500 curry pouches, were carried onto a government-chartered plane that left Tokyo on Wednesday night. But they were rejected by Chinese customs officials at Wuhan airport who said that they cannot handle a massive amount of food, according to the sources. Certificates of origin were attached on the rice packets, but not on other items, the sources said. The Chinese government began to require the documents for food products from 37 of Japan's 47 prefectures after the March 2011 accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, while imposing a ban on food imports from the other 10 prefectures, including Fukushima, home to the plant. The Chinese government had notified the Japanese side in advance that it would not exempt food aid related to the coronavirus outbreak from the import restrictions, the sources said. END