Japan says it expects the World Trade Organization(WTO) to sufficiently reflect its stance on disputes over Seoul’s ban of Japanese seafood imports following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. 

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga made the comment in a regular media briefing on Monday ahead of an imminent decision on the issue by the global free trade watchdog. 

Suga said his government has continuously argued to the WTO that South Korea’s import ban is arbitrary, discriminatory and excessive. 

He said the WTO Secretariat informed the Japanese government that its final report will likely be announced by Thursday. 

South Korea prohibited imports of dozens of fish products from Fukushima and its adjacent areas due to radioactive leaks following the 2011 tsunami disaster. In 2013, Seoul took a stronger measure to impose comprehensive import bans on fishery products from eight Japanese prefectures, including Fukushima.

Japan officially lodged a complaint with the WTO in 2015 to challenge the import bans. A WTO dispute panel ruled in October that South Korea's measures were justified after the 2011 nuclear disaster but maintaining them violated the WTO's sanitary and phytosanitary agreement.