(Provisional Translation)

7th Report of Market Access Ombudsman Council (March 18, 2002)

1-(3) Utilization of the newly introduced Registered Foreign Certification Organization system (Organic JAS)

1. Complainant: Domestic operators

2. Ministry concerned: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

3. Background:

(1) The Law Concerning Standardization And Proper Labeling Of Agricultural And Forestry Products (Law of 1999 No. 108) stipulates that organic agricultural products and organic agricultural product processed foods that are not affixed with a grading label of the Japanese Agricultural Standard (Organic JAS) shall not be permitted to display the "Organic" mark as of April 1, 2001. (Article 19-10)

(2) In the case of imported agricultural products, the revised law has established a framework in which the grading of organic agricultural products can be done in a foreign country by a foreign producer or production process administrator approved by a Registered Foreign Certification Organization*.
* "In a foreign country that has a grading system similar to the JAS system," a corporation registered with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries as an organization meeting the same requirements as those imposed on a Japanese registered certification organization.

(3) However, no foreign organization has been registered as a Registered Foreign Certification Organization since the labeling restriction of (1) above went into effect on April 1, 2001, and therefore the framework set by the law has not been available.*
* The revised law was enforced on June 10, 2000, and the registration as a Registered Foreign Certification Organization was possible before the labeling restrictions went into effect on April 1, 2001. However, one year and two months had passed and it was on August 27, 2001, or after this complaint was received, that a foreign organization was registered for the first time since the enforcement of the law. (As of February 22, 2002, five Australian organizations and one Austrian organization have been registered.)

4. Complaint:

Due to the delay in registration as Registered Foreign Certification Organizations, importers suffered damages, as they were unable to import goods affixed with the Organic JAS mark on and after April 2001. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries should carry out the following specific steps in order to promote the utilization of the newly introduced Registered Foreign Certification Organization system.

(1) Setting standard disposal period

a. Standard disposal period required for registration as Registered Foreign Certification Organization

Since there is no standard as to the period required from the time after application for registration as a Registered Foreign Certification Organization to the time of registration, the people wishing to use such organization cannot map out a business plan. Some organizations gave up the idea of making application for fear that the time required for registration might be prolonged.
Meanwhile, the administrative procedure law says that government offices shall set a standard period normally required for disposing an application.
Therefore, based on the purpose of the Administrative Procedure Law, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries should set a standard disposal period required from the time of application for registration as a Registered Foreign Certification Organization to the time of registration.

b. Standard disposal period required for certification of producers, etc.

There is no standard either with regard to the period required for a foreign producer to be certified by a Registered Foreign Certification Organization to conduct grading of organic agricultural products, causing a considerable delay for producers and importers to map out and implement a business plan. (The same is true of the certification made by Japanese Registered Certification Organizations.)
Therefore, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries should encourage each Registered Foreign Certification Organization to set a standard disposal period for certification of foreign producers, etc.

(2) Measures to increase Registered Foreign Certification Organizations

a. Measures to make application easy, such as allowing application in English, etc.

Some organizations have suspended clerical work for application for registration as a Registered Foreign Certification Organization because they are requested to submit documents and materials necessary for application in English and because they found that translation costs come to a considerable amount.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries should adopt specific measures to make registration application easy from the standpoint of increasing the number of Registered Foreign Certification Organizations. For example, the ministry should allow application in English.

b. Relaxation of the requirement of "Countries having a similar system as the JAS system"

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries contends that this requirement is necessary on the ground of "ensuring strict, objective, and fair certification and the necessity of controlling and supervising foreign corporations (registration applicants) through their home governments." But, the control and supervision of foreign corporations for the purpose of "ensuring strict, objective and fair certification" can be made through the International Organic Accreditation Services (IOAS), which the ministry recognizes as an "organization whose reliability has been internationally established."
Registration as a Registered Foreign Certification Organization should essentially be based on the certifying ability of the organization in question. The foreign corporations registered with the IOAS, which the ministry recognizes as an "organization whose reliability has been internationally established," such as the Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA) of the United States, whose registration has been strongly called for by importers, should be allowed to register as Registered Foreign Certification Organizations, even if they are from countries not designated as "countries having a similar system as the JAS system.

5. Results of deliberation:

(1) Setting of standard disposal period

a. Standard disposal period required for registration as Registered Foreign Certification Organization

The ministry concerned has set the standard disposal period stipulated in Article 6 of the Administrative Procedure Law concerning registration of Registered Certification Organization and Registered Foreign Certification Organization (Law of 1993, No. 88) as within three months in No. 10 (standard disposal period) of the "Outline concerning Registration of Registered Certification Organization and Registered Foreign Certification Organization, Renewal of Registration, Approval of Certification Fees and Certification Business Regulations, and Other Supervision," which was partially revised by the General Food Policy Bureau directive No. 2500 dated September 17, 2001.
The ministry concerned, prompted by the complaint in question, has set the standard disposal period concerning registration of new Registered Foreign Certification Organizations as within three months. In actually implementing the decision, the ministry concerned should strive to make paper work efficient and to handle applications promptly.

b. Standard disposal period required for certification of producers, etc.

With regard to a standard disposal period, during which a Registered Certification Organization or a Registered Foreign Certification Organization has to certify a foreign producer, the ministry concerned issued General Food Policy Bureau directive No. 2896 dated October 15, 2001 and told each Registered Certification Organization to strive to set a standard disposal period and make it fully known to applicants.

(2) Measures to increase Registered Foreign Certification Organizations

a. Measures to make application easy, such as allowing application in English, etc.

The system of Registered Foreign Certification Organization was a newly introduced system as a result of law revisions in 1999. The ministry concerned should take positive measures to facilitate the use of the new system.
One of the specific measures to this end is increasing the number of Registered Foreign Certification Organizations by allowing applications for registration as a Registered Foreign Certification Organization in English and thereby making registration application easy.
On this point, the ministry concerned does not allow application in English as long as it is made to the Japanese government, contending that it is natural to use Japanese, the language of this country (official language).
However, English is a standard language in the world. Moreover, EU nations allow application in English, French, or German as well as in their respective native language.
Based on the above, the ministry concerned should study specific measures to make registration as Registered Foreign Certification Organization easy, such as allowing the use of English in the part of the documents necessary for registration application, from the standpoint of increasing the number of Registered Foreign Certification Organizations to facilitate the use of Registered Foreign Certification Organizations by importers.

b. Relaxation of the requirement of "Countries having a similar system as the JAS system"

From the standpoint of ensuring strict, objective, and fair certification and the necessity of controlling and supervising foreign corporations to that purpose through their home governments, the ministry concerned contends that in order to be a Registered Foreign Certification Organization, an organization must belong to "a country having a similar system as the JAS system.
For this reason, the OCIA of the U.S. and some other organizations, whose registration has been strongly called for by importers, are unable to be registered as Registered Foreign Certification Organizations because the United States is not designated as "a country having a similar system as the JAS system."
But "ensuring strict, objective, and fair certification" is possible not only by controlling and supervising through home governments but also by controlling and supervising through the IOAS, which the ministry concerned recognizes as an "organization whose reliability has been internationally established." At the least, organizations registered with the IOAS should be allowed to be registered, even if they are organizations of countries not designated as "countries having a similar system as the JAS system."
Registration as a Registered Foreign Certification Organization should essentially be based on the certifying ability of the organization in question, regardless of the system of the country to which the organization in question belongs. The requirement of "countries having a similar system as the JAS system" is only security for proper management of Registered Foreign Certification Organizations and making it an essential requirement is extremely a rigid way of thinking.
In the Building Standards Law, there is a scheme under which a foreign "Approval and Certification Organization" authorized by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport certifies foreign producers of structured members. But, unlike the JAS Law, the Building Standards Law does not require the Approval and Certification Organization to be an organization of a country having a similar system as that of Japan.
Only Australia and EU countries are designated as "countries having a similar system as the JAS System. But, organizations of not only Australia and EU countries, such as Germany and Italy, but also other countries, such as the United States, New Zealand, Israel, Argentine, Bolivia, and Brazil, are registered with the IOAS.
Based on the above, the ministry concerned should study revising the JAS Law and take necessary measures to make it possible for importers to utilize as Registered Foreign Certification Organization an organization belonging to a country not designated as a country having a similar system as the JAS System. The ministry should also abolish the requirement of "countries having a similar system as the JAS System," a requirement that the ministry has adopted to ensure proper control and supervision of Registered Foreign Certification Organizations, and in doing so, encourage the use of an organization registered with organizations (such as the IOAS) whose reliability has been internationally established.

Government decision (March 20, 2002)

1-(3) Utilization of the newly introduced Registered Foreign Certification Organization system (Organic JAS)

The following measures will be taken regarding the utilization of the Registered Foreign Certification Organization system for organic agriculture products under the Law Concerning Standardization And Proper Labeling Of Agricultural And Forestry Products (JAS Law).

A. The ministry concerned, prompted by the complaint in question, has set the standard disposal period concerning registration of new Registered Foreign Certification Organizations as within three months. In actually implementing the decision, the ministry concerned will strive to make its paperwork efficient and to handle applications promptly.

B. The ministry concerned will study specific measures to make registration as Registered Foreign Certification Organization easy, such as allowing the use of English in the part of the documents necessary for registration application, from the standpoint of increasing the number of Registered Foreign Certification Organizations to facilitate the use of Registered Foreign Certification Organizations by importers.

C. The ministry concerned will study revising the JAS Law and take necessary measures to make it possible for importers to utilize as Registered Foreign Certification Organization an organization belonging to a country not designated as a country having a similar system as the JAS System. The ministry will also abolish the requirement of "countries having a similar system as the JAS System," a requirement that the ministry has adopted to ensure proper control and supervision of Registered Foreign Certification Organizations, and in doing so, encourage the use of an organization registered with organizations (such as the IOAS) whose reliability has been internationally established.