Policy Actions on Market Access Issues as concerns Standards, Certifications and Others

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Policy Actions on Market Access Issues as concerns Standards, Certifications and Others (March 19, 2003)

Respecting the “Recommendations on Market Access Issues as concerns Standards, Certifications and Others” (Report of the Comprehensive Review by Market Access Ombudsman Council, March 13, 2003 ) to the greatest extent, possible, the following measures will be taken to further promote improved market access.

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1.Issues on Standards and Certifications System

--Issues on Formulation of Specifications/Standards--

Open access to food additives distributed abroad

The following measures will be taken concerning the treatment of food additives distributed abroad.

(1) The administration will take an initiative to conduct internal examinations and 
deliberations using available foreign testing data for the designation of food additives which are widely and safely distributed internationally． Additives will be approved for designation unless there are specific and clear reasons for them not being distributed in Japan.  In addition, further efforts will be made to disclose the content of deliberations and examinations.

(2) Early deliberations and examinations will be made by the initiatives of an administration on 46 food additives and the designation of them will be decided based on the examination results.  Also, administration initiated deliberations and examinations will be made on qualifying and hugely demanded food additives other than the 46 items and active additional designations will be made based on the examination results.  Prior announcement will be made about the additional designation, specifying the examined additives, the designation standards, schedules and others.

Review of medical classification

The following measures will be taken concerning review of medical classification.

(1) As in the case of L-Carnitine being made available as food, those components listed as the ones to be used solely as pharmaceutical products in Japan although they are widely distributed and sold as foods in overseas countries will be scientifically examined on its contents, safety and functions and the classification of such components will be reviewed by active administrative initiatives.  The authority will take prompt action to present specific components targeted for the revision of “the list of essential components (raw materials) to be used solely for pharmaceutical products” and the schedules for such procedures.

(2) Along with the revision of medical contents classification, measures will be taken to facilitate uninterrupted distribution and sales of such components as foods, for example, by designating such components as food additives.

--Issues on Conformity Assessment for Specifications/Standards--

Use of foreign testing data for the inspection of building materials,etc

In order to facilitate the applications for approval from authorized organizations for recognition based on the Building Standard Law and from foreign testing organizations as of authorized organizations for performance evaluation, the following measures will be taken promptly.

(1) The ministry concerned will establish and announce the standard processing period for applications of recognition, and will also make efforts to facilitate rapid processing, while securing the transparency of approval procedures.

(2) The ministry concerned will consider and implement the acceptance of English application documents to promote applications of recognitions through an effort to ease the burden on foreign assessment organizations.

(3) The ministry concerned will promote active and effective PR activities for the usefulness of the new systems in question.  The ministry will compile an application manual in English which explains the actual procedures for application process of authorized organizations for recognition and authorized organizations for performance evaluation, required documents (including format), consultation services and other related information.  The manuals will be distributed and posted on its website.

 The responsible ministry will also consider measures for early realization of reciprocal recognition between major trading partners to ease the burden and improve the convenience of users as well as to develop better market access

Review of the JAS System

Measures concerning the JAS System will be taken as follows.

(1) Appropriate action will be taken immediately after conclusion is reached on matters regarding the acceptance of application documents for Registered Foreign Certification Organizations written in English, with the aim of easing the burden on foreign organizations and promoting more applications for registration.

(2) Conclusion will be reached soon to amend the JAS Law to abolish the requirement of “countries with equivalent systems to the JAS System,” and in doing so, the use of an organization registered by internationally recognized organization (such as the IOAS) will be encouraged. In the meantime, the amendment of the JAS Law will clarify the measures to make it possible for the registration of organizations not belonging to countries having similar systems to the JAS System as long as they are well equipped with the capacity to conduct the required services.

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2. Realization of Japan that is Open to the World 24 Hours a Day,365 Days a Year

Realization of 24 hour/365 day customs and quarantine services

The following measures will be taken to realize 24 hour/365 day customs and quarantine services.

(1) The responsible authorities will strive to elevate the quality of customs and quarantine services to an international level by implementing 24 hour/365 day services at major ports and airports, to accurately assess demand, and to take necessary measures at the earliest possible time.  Also, they will review working hours and conditions, and outsource services as much as possible. They will take necessary measures to further promote efficiency and laborsaving by developing IT systems.

(2) The responsible authorities will coordinate closely in order to elicit the best possible effect of implementation of 24 hour/365 day customs and quarantine services and will take necessary measures to implement such services at least in places where constant demand is expected.

(3) The Ministry of Finance will continue the service outside office hours at the seven harbors where trial services is now underway after the end of March 2003.  The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries will maintain close coordination with related services in providing quarantine services.

(4) The Ministry of Finance will consider the reduction of handling charges, including possible elimination, for overtime services and take necessary measures accordingly in view of implementation of 24 hour/365day services.

Introduction of market principle to port business

The following measures will be taken concerning introducing the market principle to port business.

(1) Regarding deregulation for provincial ports other than the nine major ports, the responsible ministry will make it sure that a conclusion of the reexamination is released by the end of fiscal 2003 and will take measures to promptly implement it.

(2) In order to continue ensuring the effectiveness of the deregulation measures, the responsible ministry will make efforts in such a way that no barriers exist to new entrants

(3) In order to make Japanese ports win the position of being international distributing bases with international competitiveness, the following measures will be taken for the purpose of realizing the 24 hour/365 day full opening of ports at an early stage:
1] it will be made clear when the results of examining the possibility of realizing the 24 hour/365 day full opening of the port gate will be released and the decision will be steadily implemented and
2] concrete measures will be taken for the purpose of addressing the issue of implementing the full opening of the port gate at an early stage through cooperation between the government and the private sector. And additionally,
3] cooperation with customs clearance and quarantine operations will be reinforced and convenience will be enhanced.

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3. Simplification and Acceleration of Import Clearance Procedures

Simplification and acceleration of import clearance procedures

The following measures will be taken concerning simplification and acceleration of import clearance procedures.

(1) In order to enable more importers to use the simplified declaration system, the responsible ministry will immediately review the necessary conditions such as specifying the goods and providing a security, and in particular the responsible ministry will revise the specifying condition from “goods for which an approval for import has been obtained for at least 24 times in the recent one year” to “goods for which an approval for import has been obtained at least six times in the recent one year.”

(2) In order to simplify and accelerate import procedures, the responsible ministry, in cooperation with other government departments concerned, will actively promote the one-stop service (single window system) regarding export and import and port-related procedures from the viewpoint of computerizing administrative procedures. Efforts will be made to put the one-stop service (single window system) into operation even one day earlier, and the system will be put into operation by the end of July 2003 at the latest. Further, from the viewpoint of system users, the government will not limit its efforts only to the interconnection of the existing systems but will thoroughly review all the procedures such as examining the overlapped operations and simplifying procedures and even after the system is put into operation, the government will continue to pay attention to users’ requests and make readjustments from the users’ viewpoint.

Reduction of Charges for Using the NACCS System

The following measures will be taken suitably concerning reduction of charges for using the NACCS system in the NACCS center.

(1) At the same time of further disclosing information and improving the transparency of charges for using the system, efforts will be made to concretize the measures that will be promptly taken through the full-scale introduction of competitive bidding for the system development and the outsourcing of operations, thereby enabling operations to be conducted at a higher efficiency and reasonable cost, and furthermore, measures will be taken to reduce the total expenses including administration overhead, such as adequate reexamination of the system development and management from the cost effectiveness viewpoint.

Also, charges for using the system will be reviewed in a flexible way according to the economic and financial conditions and in such case, not only will there be an explicit rule to return surplus funds and reserves to users, the result of reducing various expenses included in charges of using the NACCS system will be immediately reflected in charges for using the system, thereby leading to a further charge reduction.

(2) A third party panel consisting of experts and users regarding the charges for using
the Air-NACCS system will be set up at the earliest possible time in fiscal 2003. This third party panel will study matters on the model of charges for using the Air-NACCS system including the items that will be studied in the future and the direction in which the review will be made, e.g., the method to reduce costs and a charge system for which the factor of economies of scale is taken into account. During the process of the study, along with the release of the minutes from meetings, both neutrality and transparency will be secured to the greatest extent, such as disclosure of information in a wide range and permission for observers to attend the meeting if necessary.

Furthermore, regarding Sea-NACCS, too, in order to study the model of charges for using the system from a multifaceted viewpoint and a neutral standpoint, a third party panel consisting of experts and users will be set up in the earliest possible stage just as in the case of Air-NACCS.

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4. Others

Revision of the vehicle inspection system for towing vehicles and towed vehicles

The following measures concerning revision in the vehicle inspection system for both towing and towed vehicles will be taken.

Regarding the revision of the vehicle inspection system for towing vehicles and towed vehicles, the detailed work schedule for implementation will be announced to the public, such as timing to solicit public comments and timing to notify the WTO, and prompt measures will be taken in a way that the new system will be assuredly put into operation by the end of fiscal 2003 at the latest.