South Korea Takes Fukushima Seafood Ban to WTO Appellate Body

South Korea announced on Friday that it will appeal to the WTO Appellate Body a panel ruling in favor of Japan’s challenge to South Korea’s ban on imports of Japanese seafood products after the Fukushima nuclear incident, which occurred in 2011. In 2013, South Korea joined several other countries and placed import restrictions on 28 seafood products from eight Japanese provinces near Fukushima. Japan challenged South Korea’s import restrictions at the WTO as violating anti-discrimination rules and serving as an unfair trade barrier. In its report issued Thursday, the WTO panel concluded that the South Korean import ban was more restrictive than necessary and violates South Korea’s WTO obligations. The panel recommended that South Korea eliminate the overly restrictive import ban.