October 2013
Mitsuhiro Sumimoto
Registered Engineer(No.15790, IPEJ)
President & Chief Consultant
E-mail: sumi1901@jcom.home.ne.jp
SUMIMOTO PACKAGING CONSULTANT OFFICE
1. The case where Japan imports foods
(The case where South Africa exports foods)
2. Legislation for foods
3. Legislation for packaging materials and industry
standards
4. Specifications of containers and packaging
materials under JAS
5. Major regulations for labeling on packages
6. Quality labeling requirements for processed
foods
7. Requirements for retort pouch foods By product
8. Specifications and standards for soft drinks
Food itself: Food Sanitation Act
Importers in Japan
Import procedures, such as plant and animal plant
Notification form for quarantine inspections
importation of foods, Notification form for
etc. importation of foods, etc.
National standards
Safety and sanitation of packaging materials
Self-standards of the
industry
1. The case where Japan imports foods
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Procedures for importing foods to Japan
1. When foods are imported, procedures according to the Food Sanitation Act
shall be followed.
2. Depending on the items, import procedures, such as plant and animal
quarantine inspections, are required.
(1) Vegetables, fruits, and food grains
When vegetables, fruits, and food grains are imported, a plant quarantine
inspection is carried out first in order to prevent at the water's edge the entry
of insects, mold, and seeds that are harmful to domestic plants according to
the Plant Protection Act.
(2) Fresh fishery products from areas infected with cholera
Fresh fishery products imported from the areas infected with cholera, such as
Southeast Asia, undergo a quarantine inspection for cholera first. This is for
the purpose of preventing the entry of cholera, an infectious disease,
according to the Quarantine Act.
(3)Meat and ham
When meat of animals and livestock, ham, sausage, and other stock farm
products are imported, an animal quarantine inspection is carried out first in
order to prevent at the water's edge the entry of plagues that are harmful to
animals according to the Act on Domestic Animal Infectious Diseases Control.
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3. As for foods that underwent a quarantine inspection and general
processed foods, a Certificate of Notification is submitted to the
Minister of Health, Labour, and Welfare for inspection and guidance
in terms of sanitation under the Food Sanitation Act. Finally, the
import is permitted after paying an import duty and consumption tax
according to the Customs Act. There are non-liberalized import
items (rice and some shore fish, etc.) among imported foods, which
require other procedures, including ones for import quota.
4. Note that the same rules of labeling under the Food Sanitation Act
and the Law Concerning Standardization and Proper Labeling of
Agricultural and Forestry Products (JAS Law) are applied to
imported foods as domestic food products in selling them.
Main contact
Food Sanitation Act: Food Sanitation Division, Environmental Health Bureau,
Ministry of Health and Welfare +81-3-3503-1711 +81-3-3503-1711
Contact of the Quarantine Station: Food Inspection Division, Tokyo Quarantine
Station +81-3-3471-1913
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5. Specifications of agricultural chemical residues (Positive list system)
Foods having a higher level of pesticide, feed additive, or veterinary drug
than the regulatory maximum residue limit shall be prohibited from sale in
Japan. Agricultural residue limits in foods are set in the standards and
specifications (the positive list system).
In addition, under Paragraph 3, Article 11 of the Food Sanitation Act,
The maximum limit of pesticides that are outside the scope of the
positive list set at 0.01ppm (MHLW Notification No. 497), and
The substances designated as having no potential to cause damage to
human health among ones that are outside the scope of the positive list
(MHLW Notification No.498)
are also set as notifications.
Other than the above, note that provisional regulatory limitations are set on
some substances (PCB, mercury, shellfish poisons, etc.).
http://www.jetro.go.jp/world/japan/qa/import_01/04M-030003
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2. Legislation for foods
1. Food Sanitation Act (Revised on June 5, 2009)
http://law.e-gov.go.jp/htmldata/S22/S22HO233.html
2. Ordinance for Enforcement of the Food Sanitation Act
(Revised on October 20, 2010)
http://law.e-gov.go.jp/htmldata/S23/S23F03601000023.html
5. Food Additives
(Standards and Evaluation Division, Food Safety Department,
Pharmaceutical and Food Safety Bureau, MHLW)
http://www.mhlw.go.jp/seisakunitsuite/bunya/kenkou_iryou/shokuhin/syokuten/
index.html 8
6. Positive List System for Agricultural Chemical Residues in Foods
(The Japan Food Chemical Research Foundation)
http://www.ffcr.or.jp/Zaidan/FFCRHOME.nsf/pages/MRLs-n
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3. Legislation for packaging materials and industry standards
3-1 Food Sanitation Act: Packaging materials used in Japan shall
be, irrespective of packages for domestically produced foods or
imported foods, subject to the regulations of this Act.
(URL: Described in English)
http://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/law/detail_main?id=12&vm=4&re=
Article 3 :
A food business operator (meaning a person or juridical person who is engaged in
collecting, producing, importing, processing, cooking, storing, transporting, or selling
food or additives, or producing, importing, or selling apparatuses or containers and
packaging, or a person or juridical person who provides food to many and unspecified
persons on an ongoing basis at schools, hospitals, or other facilities; the same shall
apply hereinafter) shall, on his/her own responsibility, endeavor to ensure the safety of
the food, additives, apparatuses or containers and packaging which he/she collects,
produces, imports, processes, cooks, stores, transports, sells, provides to many and
unspecified persons, or uses in business (hereinafter referred to as "food for sale, etc."),
and for that purpose, he/she shall endeavor to obtain the knowledge and technologies
necessary to ensure the safety of food for sale, etc., conduct voluntary inspections of
food for sale, etc., and take other necessary measures.
Food Sanitation Act
This Act is for the purpose of preventing the sanitation hazards
resulting from eating and drinking to improve and promote public
health. This Act specifies food, additives, apparatuses, containers and
packaging, labeling, advertising, inspections and business, etc., and on
the package of food, labeling of
(1) name (name of the item), (2) raw and other materials/additives,
(3) content, (4) use-by-date or best-before-date, (5) storage
instructions, (6) name of manufacturer, (7) address of manufacturer,
(8) genetic modification and (9) allergens, etc., are required.
3-2 As for packaging, there are roughly two regulations as
follows:
(i) Regulation concerning the safety and hygiene of materials
(ii) Regulation concerning the labeling on packages
http://www.jhospa.gr.jp/web/standard/standard.html
6. Labeling standard for processed foods
Notification No. 3 of the Consumers Affairs Agency, last revised on March 31, 2011
(2) Names of ingredients
Names of ingredients shall be labeled in accordance with the classification a) and b) as
below.
a) Names of ingredients other than food additives shall be labeled with the most
generic names in descending order by weight. Labeling of ingredients made from no
less than two ingredients (hereafter compound ingredients) shall follow as provided
below:
(i) The name of the mentioned compound ingredient shall be followed by its
component ingredients with the most generic names in parentheses in descending
order by weight in the mentioned compound ingredient. Where the compound
ingredient consists of no less than three ingredients, the ingredients which are ranked
below third in weight and consist less than 5% by the total weight of the mentioned
compound ingredient may be labeled as others.
(ii) The names of ingredients of the mentioned compound ingredient may be omitted, if
the weight of the compound ingredient in the total ingredients of the product is less
than 5% or the names of ingredients are easily identified from the name of the
compound ingredient.
(b) Names of food additives shall be labeled in descending order by weight in the total
ingredients, pursuant to the provisions of article 21, paragraph 1, items 1-(Ho) and 2,
paragraphs 11 and 12 of the Enforcement Regulations of the Food Sanitation Law
(Ordinance No. 23 of the Ministry of Health and Welfare of 1948).
6-1 With regard to imports, manufacturers, etc. shall label the
country of origin on the packages or containers in addition to
the items in paragraph 1.
JAS Mark
Foods and forestry products, etc. that meet JAS standards
(General JAS standards) in terms of quality, such as composition,
grading, performance, can carry JAS marks with the packages.
http://www.maff.go.jp/j/jas/jas_kikaku/index.html
Reference
JAS standard list
Table for
Comparison
Japanese Agricultural Standard for fruit juices (PDF:248KB) between the old July 22, 1998 July 17, 2012
and new
standards (PDF:
89KB)
Japanese Agricultural Standard for Apple Straight Pure Juice(PDF: October 30,
(Checked) July 17, 2012
69KB) 2007
Japanese Agricultural Standard for Carbonated Drinks (PDF: 67KB) (Checked) June 27, 1974 July 17, 2012
November 16,
Japanese Agricultural Standard for Soybean Milk (PDF: 89KB) (Checked) July 17, 2012
1981
Japanese Agricultural Standard for Carrot Juice and Carrot Mixed March 28,
(Checked) July 17, 2012
Juice (PDF:65KB) 1996
http://www.maff.go.jp/j/jas/jas_kikaku/kikaku_itiran.html
Reference
Table for
Comparison
Japanese Agricultural Standard for Processed Tomato between the October 11,
old and new May 19, 2009
Foods (PDF: 131KB) 1979
standards
(PDF: 171KB)
Table for
Comparison
between the
Japanese Agricultural Standard for Jams (PDF: 74KB) old and new April 20. 1988 July 17, 2008
standards
(PDF118KB)
Japanese Agricultural Standard for Prepared Frozen Foods (PDF: 164KB) Table for Comparison between the
old and new standards (PDF: 184KB)
August 25, 1978 August 29, August 29, 2008
Reference
Quality labeling standards
Quality Labeling Standard for Frozen Vegetables (PDF: 18KB)August 19, 2002 January 31, 2008
December 28, September 30,
Quality Labeling Standard for Pickled Vegetables (PDF:28KB)
2000 2011
Quality Labeling Standard for Processed Eel Products (PDF: September 30,
April 25, 2001
12KB) 2011
Quality Labeling Standard for Dried Bonito Shavings (PDF: December 19,
August 6, 2008
24KB) 2000
http://www.caa.go.jp/jas/hyoji/kijun_Itiran.html
Reference
Quality Labeling Standard for Flavor Seasonings (PDF: 16KB) December 19, 2000 September 30, 2011
Quality Labeling Standard for Dehydrated soups (PDF:
December 19, 2000 September 30, 2011
112KB)
Reference
Quality Labeling Standard for Pickled Vegetables December 28, September 30,
(PDF: 28KB) 2000 2011
December 19,
Quality Labeling Standard for Processed Tomato September 30,
2000
Foods (PDF: 26KB) 2011
December 19, September 30,
Quality Labeling Standard for Jams (PDF: 19KB)
2000 2011
Quality Labeling Standard for Dried Shiitake December 19,
November 6, 2007
Mushrooms(PDF: 157KB) 2000
Quality Labeling Standard for Marine Products (PDF: 6KB) March 31, 2000 -
Quality Labeling Standard for Fresh Foods (PDF: 28KB) March 31, 2000 January 31, 2008
Quality Labeling Standard for Processed Foods (PDF: 196KB)
March 31, 2000 June 11, 2012
NEW
Quality Labeling Standard for Genetically Modified (PDF:
March 31, 2000 August 31, 2011
23KB)
Reference