WTO backs S. Korean ban on Japanese seafood, reverses earlier ruling

GENEVA (Kyodo) -- The World Trade Organization ruled Thursday in favor of a South Korean ban on imports of some Japanese fishery products introduced in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, reversing an earlier decision against the restrictions.

The decision, delivered by the WTO's appellate body for dispute settlement, the highest judicial entity of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism, leaves Japan with no recourse in a legal battle that has dragged on for years.

The appellate body invalidated the conclusions of a dispute settlement panel that made the earlier decision because of several errors made by the latter in investigating the dispute.

Tokyo expressed disappointment with the ruling, with Foreign Minister Taro Kono saying in a statement that "Japan's position of calling on South Korea to scrap the measures remains unchanged."

After a powerful earthquake and tsunami triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011, South Korea imposed a partial ban on fishery products from Fukushima and seven other prefectures due to fears of radioactive contamination.

In September 2013, South Korea expanded the restrictions to include all fishery products from the eight prefectures and tightened testing requirements.

While dozens of countries imposed some sort of import restrictions on Japanese food products following the Fukushima crisis, Japan had argued that the South Korean restrictions were far too strict.

After bilateral consultations reached a dead-end, Tokyo filed a complaint with the WTO in August 2015, which covered 28 species and mollusks.

The dispute settlement panel said in February 2018 that the testing requirements and blanket ban were "more trade-restrictive than necessary" and broke WTO rules barring measures that "arbitrarily or unjustifiably discriminate" between members.

The panel recommended that the restrictions be lifted on the 28 species of fish and mollusks including Alaska pollock and blue mackerel as requested by Japan. Seoul appealed the decision in April that year.

Source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190412/p2g/00m/0bu/002000c