OTO No.629

OTO No.	629	Classification	MOF-116
Date of Acceptance	December 18, 2000	Respective Office Receiving Complaint	Cabinet Office (Economic Planning Agency)
Responsible Ministries	Ministry of Finance	Related Laws	Temporary Tariff Measures Law
Complainant	Hiroshima Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Proxy complaint)	Exporting Countries	Malaysia
Subject	Ex post facto submission of country-of-origin certificates
Description of Complaint	In order to receive the preferential tariff treatment under Article 8-2 of the Temporary Tariff Measures Law, importers must submit country-of-origin certificates issued in exporting countries when they make import declarations. The complainant, who imports agricultural chemicals from Malaysia, is usually unable to take import declaration and other procedures upon the arrival of cargo in Japan without a country-of-origin certificate because its issuance is delayed. Customs clearance for such imports should be allowed on condition of ex post facto submission of country-of-origin certificates.
Details of Measures	The ministry replied as follows: (1) Those who are to receive the preferential tariff treatment for imports of goods produced in preferential tariff treatment beneficiary countries must submit documents certifying the goods in question as having been produced in preferential tariff treatment beneficiary countries (hereinafter referred to as country-of-origin certificates) to relevant customshouse chiefs when they make import declarations under Article 8-2 (presentation of country-of-origin certificates) of the Temporary Tariff Measures Law. However, customshouse chiefs are allowed to accept the absence of a country-of-origin certificate, if they approve the importer's failure to submit the certificate due to disaster and other inevitable reasons, or on the condition of their approval on the imported goods in question as provided under Article 73-1 (receipt of imported cargoes before import permission). (2) There are two systems to apply preferential tariffs – the escape clause and ceiling systems. As for products subject to the escape clause system (where preferential tariffs are suspended for certain products when preferential tariff treatment causes an expansion of their imports to injure domestic industry), the submission of country-of-origin certificates can be omitted on the condition that customshouse chiefs approve the importer's receipts of imported cargo before import permission (unless preferential tariffs are suspended for the imports in question). As for products subject to the ceiling system (where preferential tariff quotas are set at the start of each fiscal year and preferential tariffs are suspended as imports exceed the quotas), preferential tariffs are applied to declarations of imports within quotas and are suspended as import values exceed quotas. Therefore, importers must take import procedures for these products before the suspension in order to get preferential tariff treatment. For these products, customshouses require importers to submit country-of-origin certificates to confirm whether preferential tariffs can be applied for cargo subject to import declarations. Accordingly, the submission of country-of-origin certificates cannot be omitted unless the proviso for Article 52 of the Temporary Tariff Measures Law is applicable. (3) In order to ease importers' burden involving the submission of country-of-origin certificates for preferential tariffs, a proviso of Article 51-1 of the Enforcement Ordinance for the Temporary Tariff Measures Law exempts importers from the submission of products for which customshouse chiefs can identify countries of origin by checking their types or shapes (such products now number 218 on a four-digit HS Code basis).
Status of Processing	Processed (January 25, 2001)	Classification of Action	D
Remarks	A written reply was made on January 11, 2001.