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| 7th Report of Market Access Ombudsman Council (March 18, 2002) |
1. Complainant: Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry
2. Ministry concerned: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
3. Complaint:
As a result of the revision of the Electrical Appliance and Material Control Law in April 2001 (enforcement of the Electrical Appliance and Material Safety Law), an importer of electrical appliances must "implement shipping inspection and preserve the record of the shipping inspection" (Article 8-2) in place of "foreign manufacturer" as was required in the previous law.
Moreover, when the "shipping inspection" is done not by the importer but by the foreign manufacturer at a foreign factory, the importer must obtain shipping inspection records from the foreign manufacturer and preserve them. Although we are allowed to preserve inspection records in unit of lots, it involves extremely cumbersome work. Therefore, we would like the work to be simplified.
It is now possible for Japanese importers to read and copy the data stored in computers of foreign manufacturers. Therefore, in the case where inspection records held by the foreign manufacturer can be displayed immediately in Japan by the importer, we want the competent ministry to take measures to obviate the need for importers to keep inspection records. For example, a provision to the effect that "In the case where inspection records preserved by a foreign manufacturer can be displayed immediately in Japan by an importer, the inspection records may be regarded as being preserved by the importer" should be added to Article 12 of the Enforcement Regulations of the Electrical Appliance and Material Control Law that prescribes electromagnetic methods of preserving inspection records, or we should be allowed to interpret the Article as such.
4. Corresponding Policy of the Ministries concerned:
With regard to inspection record, Article 8-1 of the Electrical Appliance and Material Safety Law stipulates that importers "shall be obligated to conform to technical standards" and Article 8-2 of the same Law stipulates that importers "shall be obligated to conduct inspection of electrical appliances, prepare inspection records, and preserve the records."
Of the obligations of importers prescribed in 8-2 of the Law, "conducting inspection and preparing inspection records" can be entrusted to other establishment (including foreign manufacturers). But, even in this case, the inspection records must be confirmed by the importer before the products are distributed, as Article 8-1 of the Law prescribes that the importer is obligated to confirm that the products conform to technical standards by confirming the inspection records in question.
Since it is necessary that the technical records once confirmed should be kept in a state readily available to the ministry to examine the possibility of the expansion of danger or trouble in the event of an accident of the product already distributed into the market, they should normally be kept at the office of the importer. But in the case where the inspection records are preserved in an electromagnetic method, it would suffice if it were ensured that the records could be displayed immediately by using a computer owned by the importer.
5. Remarks
The complainant accepted this policy.