Japan Issues New Requirements for Imported Agricultural and Livestock Products

MAFF proposed requirements for post-process management, managerial personnel and label management of organic agricultural products, organic livestock products and organic processed foods imported into Japan. Imported seeds and seedlings that may carry specific pathogens shall be subject to emergency quarantine measures. Imported plants and plant products must attach the official phytosanitary certificate issued by the exporting country and be subject to Japanese import inspection.

On September 28, 2022, the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) issued Notice No. 27, which regulates the acceptance, storage and packaging requirements for imported organic agricultural products, organic livestock products and organic processed foods. On the same day, MAFF announced the specification standard of organic product labeling. The above requirements have been officially implemented since October 1, 2022.

Post-process management

Products	Post-process Management	Reference Standard
Organic agricultural products	Acceptance, transportation, classification, preparation, washing, storage, packaging	Article 4 of the Japanese Agricultural Standards for Organic Agricultural Products
Organic livestock products	Slaughtering, dismantling, sorting, preparation, washing, storage, packaging	Article 4 of the Japanese Agricultural Standards for Organic Livestock Products
Organic processed products	Manufacturing, processing, packaging, storage	Article 4 of the Japanese Agricultural Standards for Organic Processed Products

Management personnel

Importers shall assign a person in charge with necessary knowledge and skills.

1. Person in charge of receiving, storing and packaging imported goods (hereafter referred to as the staff）

At least one person must meet any of the following conditions:

(1) Graduated from high school or secondary school according to the School Education Act, or with an equivalent or higher qualification and with more than two years of experience in food distribution practice;

(2) With more than three years of experience in food delivery.

2. Responsible person

(1) When the staff and the responsible person are the same person, it is still necessary to complete the courses related to the reception, storage and packaging of imported products at the workshop designated by the certification body.

(2) When the staff and the responsible person are not the same person, the person who has completed the mentioned courses shall be the one and only responsible person.

Organic mark (JAS labeling)

A must be more than 5mm;
B must be twice as long as A;
D must be 3/10 of C;
認証機関名(Certification Authority): characters must be the same height as D. Abbreviations can also be used;
認証番号(Confirmation number): optional.

In addition, when it comes to imported agricultural food, the Plant Protection Station started to implement emergency quarantine measures against imported pepper and tomato seeds (except fruits) that may carry specific pathogen on August 1, 2022. Moreover, for pepper and tomato seeds originating in China or Italy, even if ToBRFV test has been conducted by the Real-time RT-PCR method before export, it should be tested again at the time of entry.