4th Report of the Market Access Ombudsman Council (March 17, 1997)

7-(2) One stop service for legal procedures for imported cargo

1. Complainant: Yokohama Chamber of Commerce

2. Ministry concerned: Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHW), Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (MAFF)

3. Background:

(1) Legal procedures

1) Customs procedures
Any person who is to import any goods shall declare to the Director-General of Customs the name well as quantity and price (the quantity and value to be taken as a basis for customs valuation) of the goods and any other necessary matters with respect to the goods and obtain an import permit, after necessary examination of the goods concerned. (Customs Law Article 7, Clause 67)
For cargoes for which permits or approvals are required by other laws and regulations, Customs must be shown proof that the cargo has obtained the necessary permit or approval and receive confirmation of this. Cargoes for which proof or confirmation cannot be obtained may not be imported. (Article 70 of the above law)

2) Import procedures for foods
To prevent the occurrence of health hazards arising human consumption of food or drink, Articles 16 and 17 of the Food Sanitation Law require that imports of additives, food additive, apparatus, or container/package for sale be reported to the Quarantine Office and undergo testing if necessary.
Since it is necessary to determine whether imported foods conform to the Food Sanitation Law, food sanitation officials with specialized knowledge of food sanitation are assigned to Quarantine Offices.

3) Plant quarantine procedures
Plant pests can spread rapidly, harming agricultural products and having a highly negative impact on agricultural production and they are also extremely difficult to eradicate. To prevent the entry of plant pests into Japan and to protect domestic agricultural products from such pests, imported plants must undergo quarantine, in accordance with the provisions of the Plant Protection Law.
Plant importers must report this to the Plant Protection Office and plants must undergo inspection by plant Protection Stations. (Article 8 of the Plant Protection Law)

4) Animal quarantine procedures
Infectious livestock diseases can spread rapidly, harming domestic livestock and having a highly negative impact on the domestic livestock industry. These diseases are also very difficult to eradicate. To prevent the entry of infectious livestock diseases into Japan, imported animals and animal products must undergo quarantine, in accordance with the provisions of the Infectious Livestock Disease Prevention Law.
Importers of animals, etc. must report this promptly to the Animal Quarantine Office and present the product as is for inspection by animal quarantine officers. (Article 8 of the Infectious Livestock Disease Prevention Law)
In addition, Foreign countries use similar procedures for food, plant and animal quarantine.

(2) Concentrating offices for legal procedures

Offices for legal procedures (Customs, Quarantine, Plant Protection Stations, Plant Quarantine, and Animal Quarantine) are in the same location in the terminal building at airports. In the case of ports, however, only Otaru, Osaka and Moji have all the above offices in one building.

Importers may arrange beforehand to have officials from the nearest legal offices on hand when the cargo arrives, in order to ensure speedy completion of legal procedures.

4. Complaint:

Officials from many different offices must be available when cargoes are imported, and the fact that the offices are not in centralized locations means that import procedures take considerable time. Like Narita, which handles air cargo, ports should establish new facilities or inspection duties should be delegated to Customs officers, to enable businesses to carry out the required procedures in one location.

5. Results of deliberation:

To further expedite and simplify import procedures as a whole, the concerned ministries completed the interface between NACCS (Nippon Automated Cargo Clearance System) and the Support System for Supervising Imported Foods (MHW) on February 3, 1997. Interfaces for the Computer Processing System for Imported Plant Inspection Procedures, for procedures under the Plant Protection Law, and the Computer Processing System for Animal Quarantine Procedures, for procedures under the Infectious Livestock Disease Prevention Law (MAFF), are currently being developed and are expected to become operative during FY1997.

These interfaces will allow NACCS users, by using a NACCS terminal, to complete the import declaration for Customs, reporting procedures for MHW and application procedures for MAFF for the same cargo without having to go to individual offices, and to receive notification of test results. These interfaces are expected to cover nearly 80% of imported cargoes requiring Customs procedures and various permits and approvals required by laws other than those related to Customs, and to substantially contribute to speeding up and streamlining import procedures.

Regarding sanitary certificates issued by the exporting country's government and required under the Food Sanitation Law for imports of meat and meat products, the MHW will establish online connections with the governments of some exporting countries (at present Australia, New Zealand and the United States, depending on the capabilities of the system), enabling sanitary certificates to be sent directly to quarantine offices.

These are positive developments from the viewpoint of speeding up and streamlining import procedures. However, the concerned ministries should take more extensive measures, as described below.

(1) Information should be provided on which specific procedures will be simplified as a result of the interface between the MHW/MAFF systems and the Customs Bureau's NACCS.

(2) Prior publicity should be provided to foreign embassies in Japan regarding the progress of interfaces between computer systems for handling import procedures.

(3) The concerned ministries should undertake further cooperation and support, and work in close coordination to further speed up and streamline import procedures. The inter-ministry liaison committee for import procedures should be used effectively for this purpose.

(4) When facilities at existing ports are improved or new ports are opened, the concerned ministries should work toward establishing facilities enabling all legal procedures to be completed in one location.

Government decision (March 25,1997)

6-(2) One stop service for legal procedures for imported cargo

(1) The concerned parties will be thoroughly informed regarding specific procedures which can be simplified as a result of networking between the MHW system, the MAFF systems and the NACCS system used by Customs.

(2) The ministry concerned shall endeavor to publicize import-related system network prior to implementation, by providing information to foreign embassies in Japan.

(3) The ministries concerned with import procedures shall improve their mutual cooperation and support system and work closely together to further simplify and speed up import procedures. The ministries concerned shall use liaison meetings effectively for this purpose.

(4) When improvements are made to existing ports or new ports are opened, positive measures shall be taken to enable legal procedures for imported cargo to be handled in one centralized location.