WTO rules against South Korea in case over Japanese seafood imports

Posted on : 2017-10-18 17:32 KST Modified on : 2017-10-18 17:32 KST
Restrictions were imposed due to radioactivity risks after the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster
The Women’s Environmental Union
The Women’s Environmental Union

The World Trade Organization (WTO) made a de facto ruling against South Korea in a case lodged by Japan over Seoul’s ban on imports of seafood from the area near the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) reported on Oct. 17 that the full text of the WTO’s dispute resolution panel report on the Japanese seafood import ban – the equivalent of a first-trial ruling – had been delivered to Seoul early that morning by way of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). The report, which was hundreds of pages long, reportedly contains recommendations for South Korea to take action to comply with the terms of the WTO agreement as the respondent in the complaint. The content suggests that South Korea has effectively “lost” the case.

In response to increased safety risks from radioactivity in Japanese seafood after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, the South Korean government moved in Sept. 2013 to issue a temporary special measure banning imports of seafood caught in eight prefectures near Fukushima. In May 2015, Tokyo lodged a complaint with the WTO, claiming Seoul was “discriminating against” Japanese seafood. After the two sides failed to reach a dialogue-based resolution, a WTO panel with members from Uruguay, France, and Singapore was set up in Feb. 2016 to begin dispute resolution procedures and conduct numerous reviews leading to the final panel report issued on Oct. 17.

Panel report content is not disclosed as a rule. In a parliamentary audit the same day, Minister of Food and Drug Safety Ryu Young-jin said Seoul would “appeal and request a review to protect the public’s health.”

The initial panel decision against Seoul does not mean that it has to immediately allow a resumption of Japanese seafood imports. The WTO’s schedule has the report being made available for viewing by the organization’s roughly 160 members around Jan. 2018; countries involved in the dispute are allowed to appeal and request a second review within 60 days of the report’s release. If South Korea also loses in the second review, the MFDS would need to independently formulate and implement specific follow-up measures to honor the decision, including a resumption of imports. The WTO does not mandate retroactive compensation for damages to petitioner countries’ industries from past import bans.

By Cho Kye-wan, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

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