| TOP |
| 5th Report of Market Access Ombudsman Council (March 17, 1998) |
1. Complainant: Tokyo Chamber of Commerce
2. Ministry concerned: Ministry of Health and Welfare
3. Complaint:
In the import of alcoholic beverages, the presence or absence of antioxidants and other additives, the substance name, the content, etc. must be in accord with the Food Sanitation Law. The ingredient analysis tables used in making this judgment are limited to those issued by inspection agencies authorized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. If analysis tables are issued by inspection agencies other than those that have been authorized, either the tables must be redone by an authorized inspection agency or analysis and inspection must be conducted in Japan.
Concerning the acceptance of ingredient analysis tables issued by public inspection agencies not authorized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and manufacturers who have cleared the fixed conditions, the analysis tables issued by such makers should be considered valid and the range of inspection data from foreign countries accepted should be expanded.
4. Corresponding Policy of the Ministries concerned:
To confirm that food, etc., is in accord with the standards and specifications based on the Food Sanitation Law, at time of import, presentation of documentation of the results of inspection conducted by inspections agencies designated by the Minister of Health and Welfare or the public inspection agencies of the exporting country is requested.
The public inspection agencies of the exporting country that have standard inspection capability and are under the jurisdiction of or authorized and designated by the exporting country should be registered with the Ministry of Health and Welfare in advance. When the results of the inspections conducted by such public agencies are presented (excluding those pertaining to inspected items that could be subject to change during transit, such as bacterial and mildew infections), the inspection at time of import is omitted. Based on this system, acceptance of the documentation on inspection results at time of import when an exporting country requests and engages in registration of a public inspection agency has increased compared with the past.
Concerning the manufacturer's inspection room, etc., if the inspection agency has inspection capability above the standard and has been authorized and designated by the exporting country, it will be possible to consider it as a public inspection agency of the exporting country when there is a request from the government of the exporting country to do so. However, in accepting the results of inspections conducted by inspection agencies under the jurisdiction of or recognized and designated by the exporting country, etc., from the standpoint of ensuring objectivity of the inspection results, it will be difficult to accept the results of inspections conducted by manufacturers' inspection rooms, etc., not recognized and designated by the government of the exporting country and to omit the inspection at time of import.
5. Remarks
The complainant's opinion is as follows:
"I understand that this is the policy as it now stands."