Taiwan introduces new rules on Japanese food imports

Taiwan will enforce new rules on Japanese food imports from May 15 amid heightened safety concerns after food from near Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant has illegally entered the island under false origin labels.

Taiwan banned food imports from Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba prefectures in March 2011 after an earthquake and tsunami caused a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant.

Under the new rules, importers of Japanese food products will be required to present certificates of origin to prove that the imports are not from the five prefectures. For some high risk imports including aquatic products, tea and baby food, radiation inspection certificates will also be required, according to Taiwan's health authority.

Anger has been growing in Taiwan since March after food products from the banned Japanese prefectures were found to have been imported and sold in the island with falsified origins in Chinese-language labels.

Since news of the scandal broke, items including tea, packet noodles, cookies and sweets had been ordered off supermarket shelves. Endi