In the case you are going to import food, additives, apparatus or containers and packaging ( hereinafter referred to ” food ” ) from outside Japan and sell it in Japan, you need to know a lot of legal matters.
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So, in this page I will explain necessary process.
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In the case you import food from foreign country to sell it in Japan, the food should b be quarantined case by case basis.
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And you need to paste label in food like this one ( In Japanese language ).
Ministry of health, labor, welfare has jurisdiction over this process and you need to know ” food sanitation act = Shokuhin eisei hou “.
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When you import food from foreign country, you need to take necessary measures to keep safety of food.
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( In the case you import food for your personal purpose, such process is not always necessary. )
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So, when you import food for business purpose, you need to submit notification paper to the the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare on a case-by-case basis.
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This notification paper is sent to quarantine station ( Ken eki jo = 検疫所 ) managed by Ministry of health, labor, welfare and it inspects the content.
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Process to import food from foreign country to Japan.
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１．You need to prepare notification paper ( Yunyu todokedesho )of import of food.
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2 . You need to fill in all items on this paper.
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In the case you import meat, you need to prepare certificate of sanitation issued by export country.
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３．When you have prepared notification paper of import ( yunyu todokedesho ) and necessary papers, you need to submit them to quarantine station related to import port.
Inspection process shall be conducted by quarantine station managed by Ministry of health, labor, welfare (Kosei rodo sho = 厚生労働省 ).
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１．Officer in quarantine station inspects details of imported food.
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２．If he does not found any problem in food, you can receive certificate of notification from quarantine station.
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3 . With this paper you can take process in customs.
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４．If officer has found any issue in food, you can not import the food in Japan.
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５．Even if you import food by mail for the purpose of selling in Japan, you alson need to submit this notification paper.
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And this” food ” includes toy for infants.
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Because they put it in their mouth.
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Even if you import parking ( it is also included in ” food ” ) to use in your restaurant in Japan, you also need to submit notification paper to the Ministry of health, labor, welfare (Kosei rodo sho = 厚生労働省 ).
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Even if you import only one strawberry from foreign country, you can not omit this process.
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When a item has arrived Japan, customs office send you notification of arrival of item.
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With this document, you can proceed customs process.
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At this time, when your item is business purpose, you need to submit notification paper to quarantine station that has jurisdiction over arrival port.
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You need to submit this notification paper to quarantine station before end of customs process.
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If customs process is finished without process of quarantine, you can not use the item for your business.
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If you have not taken necessary process mentioned in this page, you will be punished by imprisonment with work or / and a fine.
