Report of Market Access Ombudsman Council (May 13, 1994)

1-(5) Improvement of Imported Food Inspection Procedures to Adopt the Australian Inspection System, and to Expand Inspection Service for Fresh Foods Especially at Local Airports

1. Complainant: Australian Embassy

2. Ministry concerned: Ministry of Health and Welfare

3. Complaint:

Japan has been preparing improvement of imported food inspection procedures since 1991. The complainant holds that Australian inspection results should be accepted and inspection service for fresh foods at local airports should be expanded.

4. Results of deliberation:

On March 29, 1994, the ministry concerned introduced a Pre-Certification System for Imported Food, etc. (factory registration system). Under this system, foods imported into Japan certified beforehand as meeting the standards and specifications under the Food Sanitation Law will be registered and subject to simplified import procedures.

It is being considered to make a registration in the light of the certificate issued by the governments of exporting countries if the government issues a certificate indicating that its facilities, foods, and so on meet the regulation under the Food Sanitation Law.

Regarding extending operating hours at local airports, the complainant's requests have been accepted, and the hours have been extended at Chitose, Nagoya and Fukuoka airports. While further extension looks ineffective in view of the volume of applications received after this extension, other specific requests for improvement will be taken into account.

These actions will be appreciated. However the Pre-Certification System for Imported Food, etc. should be introduced soon and inspections simplified as much as possible. If the complainant presents further specific requests for improvement, these should be dealt with appropriately as well.

Government decision (June 24, 1994)

1-(3) Simplifying and speeding up inspection of imported foods by using the Pre-certification System for Imported Food, etc.

Under the recently introduced Pre-certification System for Imported Food, etc. (factory-registration system), receiving applications for registration of factories and foods meeting the requirements, we will register them soon. When doing so, we will consider using registration data from the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service (AQIS) of the Ministry of Primary Industries and Energy.

When foreign businesses make specific requests for improvements regarding inspection of imported foods at local airports, we will continue to respond them appropriately.

Follow-up (June 5, 1995)

1-(5) Improvement of Imported Food Inspection Procedures to Adopt the Australian Inspection System and to Expand Inspection Service for Fresh Foods, Especially at Local Airports

After introduction of the Pre-certification System for Imported Foods in March 1994, information regarding the system was disseminated in February 1995 at the Standards Approval Subcommittee of the APEC meeting and at the workshop on import procedures for foods sponsored by the FAO held in Canberra and efforts were made to promote the use of this system. The ministry concerned will continue to explain the system to exporting countries and others, and will hold discussions with individual foreign governments to further promote the use of the system.

In March 1995, a food product (mineral water) was registered, following an application by the United States under the system.

If applications for registration are received from Australia, inspections will be carried out promptly, and if the standards of Japan's Food Sanitation Law are met, the factories and foods in question will be registered and import inspection waived. Regarding the use of inspection data from AQIS for registration, this will be studied if Australia specifically suggests this.

Regarding extension of operating hours for inspection of imported foods at local airports, given actual conditions of food imports, weekday hours at Nagoya were extended by three hours to 8 p.m. from April 1995 and a similar measure will be implemented at Fukuoka Airport from June 1995. Extending hours at other local airports will be studied based on food import conditions and staff available.