Singapore's agri-food authority AVA lifted a fruit and vegetable import ban from Japanese prefectures Shizuoka and Hyogo on Monday after an investigation revealed some radioactive vegetables were not grown there, according to AsiaOne.
Singapore suspended fresh produce imports from Shizuoka and Hyogo on March 31 and April 4 respectively after AVA detected radioactive contaminants in samples of komatsuna (Japanese mustard spinach) and cabbage labelled as from those two districts, the report said.
But the Japanese ministry of agriculture (MAFF) has since found that the vegetable samples were in fact from Saitama and Ibaraki prefectures, and that the exporters had wrongly declared the origins of the produce.
Imports from Saitama and Ibaraki were banned on 26 and 23 March.
Follow-up tests have shown vegetables from Shizuoka and Hyogo are safe to eat.
MAFF has expressed regret over the incident and assured AVA that it will not happen again. The Japanese authorities have taken regulatory action against the errant exporters.
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