(1) PURPOSE OF THE LAW AND SYSTEM
The objectives of this law are to inspect the exporting, importing and domestic plant, to control the pests, and to prevent the outbreak and/or spreading thereof, thereby to ensure the stabilization and development of agricultural production.

(2) OUTLINE OF THE LAW AND SYSTEM (Regarding import quarantine)
(i)Plants prescribed by ministerial ordinance which are forwarded from areas prescribed by ministerial ordinance or via relevant areas, (ii) quarantine pests (Note), (iii) soil or plants containing soil, (iv) their packing material or containers, should not be imported (Paragraph 1 of Article 7).
Imported plants and their packing material or container must have phytosanitary certificates issued by the relevant government organizations of the respective exporting countries or copies of the same attached to them (Paragraph 1 of Article 6).
When a plant is imported, it must be inspected without delay by a Plant Quarantine Inspector to determine if a phytosanitary certificate issued by the government organization of the exporting country or its copy is attached, if it is a plant for which importation is prohibited, and if any quarantine pests accompany it (Paragraph 1 of Article 8).
For seedlings prescribed by ministerial ordinance (such as fruit tree seedlings, potatoes, flower bulbs), as a result of inspection, when deemed necessary in order to judge whether or not quarantine pests exist, isolated cultivation is implemented (Paragraph 7 of Article 8).

(Note)

Quarantine pests are pests that could damage useful plants where (i) domestic existence has not yet been confirmed or (ii) part of its existence has been confirmed by a program to detect the occurrence and other measures necessary for control are being taken by the government, except for those pests designated by Article 5-2 of Plant Protection Law Enforcement Regulations.

(3) CABINET ORDER AND MINISTERIAL ORDINANCES
Plant Protection Law Enforcement Order
Plant Protection Law Enforcement Regulations

(4) OUTLINE OF CONTROL
1) Items Covered
Plants subject to the quarantine inspection of imported plants include plants with the possibility of containing quarantine pests such as seedlings, seeds, bulbs, potatoes, fruits, vegetables, cut flowers, grains, beans, timbers (except for processed goods of lumbered timbers etc.) and spices. Furthermore, if the possibility that primary products of the said plants are contaminated with quarantine pests exists, those products are subject to the quarantine inspection.

2) Outline of Specifications, Standards and Inspections, etc.
i. Prohibition of importation
The following items are prohibited to import (Paragraph 1 of Article 7):
(a) Plants designated by the ministerial ordinance and shipped from or passed through the designated districts (Appendix 1 of the Enforcement Regulations).
(b) Quarantine pests
(c) Soil or plants with soil
(d) Packing material or containers of the above-mentioned items.
Of these, regarding (a), important pests for which accurate plant quarantine is difficult at the time of importation inspection so that Japan will be able take action against invasion (such as Mediterranean fruit fly, melon fly, Codling moth, sweet potato weevil, Tabacco blue mold, Fire blight), areas where such quarantine pests are distributed and plants on which these quarantine pests are parasitic are prescribed by ministerial ordinance. Accordingly, even if importation of plants produced in one country is prohibited, it is possible to import the same plants from a country where quarantine pests subject to the prohibition are not distributed.
Furthermore, if the exporting country establishes a perfect insecticide or disinfecting methods and a Japanese specialist evaluates its effectiveness, importation is possible under certain conditions.
With respect to (b), if pests are detected at importation inspection, measures such as disinfection etc. are not required, unless they are quarantine pests.

ii. Restriction of importation
(a) Plants with attached phytosanitary certificates issued by the relevant governmental authority of the exporting country or copies thereof may only be imported. However, it is not necessary to attach phytosanitary certificates (Paragraph 1 of Article 6) for plants prescribed by ministerial ordinance as not for planting use and as having minimal possibility of contamination from quarantine pests (such as dried turmeric, dried genera Eucommia, almonds, cashew nuts, coconuts, peppers, pistachios, Persian walnuts or dried seeds of Macadamia nuts).

(b) A phytosanitary certificate or its copy should be attached for plants to be forwarded from areas prescribed by ministerial ordinance. The governmental organization of the exporting country confirms or testifies that quarantine pests prescribed by ministerial ordinance do not exist based on inspection results conducted at the place of production (Paragraph 2 of Article 6).

(c) In the case of importing plants by mail, these should not be imported as mail other than in small packets, parcel post and letters prescribed pursuant to Paragraph 3 of Article 2 of Correspondence Delivery by Private Organizations Law (Law No. 99 of 2002) (Paragraph 4 of Article 6).
Regarding (b), seeds or seedlings for planting, quarantine pests on which it is difficult to inspect quarantine pests at the time of importation, but it is relatively easy to carry out inspections during cultivation (such as Fusarium oxysporum f.sp.pisi, Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. Flancumfaciens, Acidovorax avenae subep.cirulli, Erwinia stewartii, Clavibacter michiganensis subsp, nebraskanests, Sugar beet nematode, Banana burrowing nematode) are required for countries where quarantine pests are distributed to inspect during cultivation.

iii. Import inspection
(a) Any person who imported plants should take an inspection by notifying the Plant Protection Station without delay (Paragraph 1 of Article 8).
(b) Seedlings prescribed by ministerial ordinance (bulbs such as lilies and tulips, Irish potato tubers, sweet potato tubers, fruit seedlings such as oranges and apples, fresh sugarcane foliage and roots) are inspected through isolation cultivating (Paragraph 7 of Article 8).

iv. Measures after inspection
(a) Regarding import inspection, plants that meet all the following requirements will pass the inspection: when phytosanitary certificate issued by the government organization of the exporting country is attached; if plants are required to be inspected at the place of cultivation, certificate of the inspection is attached; when plants do not fall under import-prohibited goods; and when plants are not contaminated by quarantine pests (Paragraph 4 of Article 9).

(b) As a result of an import inspection, if there are quarantine pests, an order to take measures such as disinfection, selection, incineration or reshipment is made. If disinfections or selection is securely implemented, plants may pass the inspection (Paragraph 1 of Article 9).

(5) HIGHLIGHTS OF THE RECENT AMENDMENT

For the purpose of reviewing the plant quarantine system, and in accordance with a change in circumstances, such as an increase in and diversification of imported plants, the Workshop on Plant Quarantine was held in May 2003 and released its report on May 21, 2004.
The report points out the following:
(i) Due to the importance of and need for refinement of plant quarantine, risk assessment based on scientific knowledge with mobility and flexibility and plant quarantine measures in proportion to risks should be conducted in consideration of international standards (IPPC etc.) in advance of risk management;
(ii) With respect to quarantine pests, it is recommended that Pest Risk Analysis, in consideration of forms and purposes of imported plants, and quantitative analysis when possible, should be appropriately conducted at anytime to review inspection measures in proportion to risks and take appropriate countermeasures. As a consequence, the workshop reviewed the treatments for pests which exporting countries request to add to the list of non-quarantine pests.
As a result, Plant Protection Law Enforcement Regulations were amended in April 2005 and 46 pests were newly classified as non-quarantine pests (63 pests hitherto registered). Furthermore, 1 pest was newly designated to require a cultivation place test, and a target region of cultivation place test was newly designated for 1 pest. Target regions and parasitic plants were designated for 3 import-prohibited pests.

(6) ENSURING TRANSPARENCY

Importation will be allowed, even for those plants which are subject to import prohibition provided in Paragraph 1 of Article 7, upon establishment of measures to prevent pest infestation, such as confirmation of regional clearance from pest occurance or establishment of sterilization measures for the pest. For related countries requesting the opening of importation, in order to clarify the process of a series of scientific and technical examinations related to procedures for opening importation, standardized procedures pertaining to examination of the request to open importation by publicly announcing the progress of procedures have been established. In the procedures, plans of examination or investigation, general results of examination or investigation, plans of field examination or field survey, and general results of field examination or field survey etc. are released in accordance with the progress.

(7) REFERENCE INFORMATION

(Liaison Offices for Further Information)
Plant Protection Division, Food Safety and Consumer Affairs Bureau
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Plant Protection Station : http://www.pps.go.jp/list/index.html
Yokohama Plant Protection Station
5-57 Kitanaka-dori, Naka-ku, Yokohama 231-0003
Tel: 045-211-7152-5 Fax: 045-211-0611
Nagoya Plant Protection Station
2-3-12 Irifune, Minato-ku, Nagoya 455-0032
Tel: 052-651-0112-4 Fax: 052-651-0115
Kobe Plant Protection Station
1-1 Hatoba-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe, 650-0042
Tel: 078-331-2376, 2384 Fax: 078-391-1757
Moji Plant Protection Station
1-3-10 Nishikaigan, Moji-ku, Kitakyushu 801-0841
Tel: 093-321-1404, 2601, 2809 Fax: 093-332-5189
Naha Plant Protection Station
2-11-1 Minatomachi, Naha 900-0001
Tel: 098-868-2850, 1679 Fax: 098-861-5500