"Unusually Cheap" Fukushima Peaches Set for Overseas Expansion…Exports to Resume After 16 Years

Exports of Fukushima Peaches to Taiwan Cleared to Resume

Taiwanese Authorities Approve Local Grading Facilities After On-Site Inspection

First Full-Scale Resumption Since 2011 Nuclear Accident

Exports of Fukushima peaches to Taiwan, which had been restricted since the 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, are set to resume in earnest as early as mid-August 2026.

Japanese peaches from Fukushima. Fukushima Travel homepage

This marks the first full-scale resumption of Fukushima’s signature peaches to the Taiwanese market in 16 years, since 2010.

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun on August 11, Taiwan’s Ministry of Agriculture recently updated its list of approved grading and packaging facilities authorized for fruit exports to Taiwan, newly including two facilities in Fukushima Prefecture.

The facilities approved for export this time are "Anpo Kobo Mirai" in Date City, Fukushima Prefecture, and the "ABE Fruits Grading Center" in Fukushima City.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Agriculture conducted on-site inspections at these facilities on July 28, and on August 5 notified them of their final approval.

Before the nuclear accident in March 2011, annual exports of Fukushima peaches to Taiwan reached about 18.5 tons in 2010, but exports were completely halted immediately after the accident that followed the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Since then, only limited trial exports have taken place for shipments passing radioactive substance standards, with export volumes reaching just 50 kilograms in 2023 and 715 kilograms in 2025.

Some point out that this is due to lingering negative perceptions of agricultural and livestock products from Fukushima that have not been fully overcome.

Since 2011, Fukushima Prefecture has been conducting radioactive substance monitoring for beef. That same year, products exceeding the Japanese government’s standards were detected, prompting full inspections. From 2020, the system shifted to sampling inspections. In these tests, some samples were found to exceed Japan’s national standard of 100 becquerels per kilogram in 2024.

However, there have been no cases of Fukushima peaches exceeding regulatory standards in testing. Nonetheless, due to lingering negative images and ongoing consumer concerns over the possible detection of radioactive substances following the nuclear accident, the price of peaches has sometimes been set below the national average.

According to the Japanese government’s "Survey on the Distribution Status of Fukushima Agricultural Products," the price of Fukushima peaches per kilogram was 5.9% lower than the national average in 2010, but the gap widened to 42.8% in 2011. Even last year, the price was still 17.5% lower than the national average.

Amid these consumer concerns, Fukushima Prefecture, the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (JA), and other stakeholders have continuously explained safety and requested ongoing inspections with local authorities in pursuit of re-entering the Taiwanese market.

With the approval of the grading facilities, exports of Fukushima peaches to Taiwan are expected to resume in earnest as early as mid-August 2026.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.