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SHIZUOKA -- Gov. Heita Kawakatsu has snubbed the central government's request for tea-growing regions to check steam-dried green tea leaves for any radioactive material, pointing out that such a test is going too far.

Kawakatsu announced on May 18 that his prefecture -- the nation's largest tea producer -- will not comply with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's request that local governments in tea-growing regions check steam-dried green tea leaves, called "Aracha," for any radioactive substances.

"Checking (the radioactivity levels in) raw tea leaves and tea for drinking is enough," said Kawakatsu.

Aracha weighs about one-fifth normal tea due to water evaporation and tends to have a higher level of radioactive substances than raw green tea leaves.

Alarmed by the recent detection of high levels of radioactive cesium in tea leaves, the ministry has ordered Tokyo and more than a dozen other prefectures in the Tohoku, Kanto and other regions to check Aracha, instructing them to ban distribution of Aracha if cesium tops the national provisional limit of 500 becquerels per kilogram.

There has been a conflict of opinions within the central government over the issue, with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare insisting that a uniform limit be strictly applied for Aracha while the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries arguing that the application of the limit should be flexible.

"By confusing consumers, the central government could heighten public distrust in the state," said Gov. Kawakatsu.