6th Report of Market Access Ombudsman Council (March 16, 2000)

7-(10) Pre-clearance inspection of chilled products

1. Complainant: Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry

2. Ministry concerned: Ministry of Finance

3. Complaint:

Ensuring and maintaining freshness of chilled products is very important, given their nature, and although it is essential to check products after they arrive, under the current system checking cannot be done until after customs clearance, so a certain amount of time is needed for checking after customs clearance and before distribution.
For this reason, checking of products before customs clearance, at wharf-side refrigerated warehouses (bonded warehouses) should be permitted, in order for distribution of chilled products to begin immediately after customs clearance.

4. Corresponding Policy of the Ministries concerned:

Regarding handling of foreign cargo prior to customs clearance, Article 40, Paragraph 1 of the Customs Law allows importers to inspection, repacking, sorting or any other care the contents of the cargo in question while it is held in bonded area. Paragraph 2 of the said Law allows importers to display samples, carry out simple processing or other similar actions, after receiving permission from the Director-General of Customs. Accordingly, the Customs Law allows ordinary checking even prior to customs clearance.

5. Remarks
The complainant accepted this policy.