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Exporting food from Japan

Japan issues food export certificates only when the destination's government asks for them, under the Act on Facilitating the Export of Agricultural, Forestry, and Fishery Products and Food. MAFF, MHLW, prefectures and registered bodies issue them; plants such as rice and tea go through the Plant Protection Station, and animal products through the Animal Quarantine Service.

Updated · Each section links to the official source it comes from

Certificate law
Export Facilitation Act, Act No. 57 of 2019
When a certificate is issued
When the destination's government calls for one
Free sale certificate
Regional Agricultural Administration Offices, for retail-form food
Fee
870 yen per application for State-issued certificates
Plants, rice and tea
Plant Protection Station export inspection
Export declaration
To Japan Customs, with permits under other laws

Before the goods leave

The questions to answer, in the order they usually come up.

  1. 1Does the destination's government ask for a certificate, and is there a handling rule for it? Read more
  2. 2Does the importer need a free sale or health certificate for processed food? Read more
  3. 3Is it rice, tea, seafood or another product with its own procedure? Read more
  4. 4Does it need a plant or animal quarantine certificate? Read more
  5. 5Does the destination still restrict food from some prefectures? Read more
  6. 6Who declares it to Customs, and with which documents? Read more

The rules, by area

What each area covers, the texts that set it, and what the official pages say.

Export certificates under the Export Facilitation Act

When a destination's government asks for one, MAFF, MHLW, MOF, prefectures or registered bodies issue the certificate under the 2019 Act.

  • A competent minister may issue an export certificate, showing a product meets the destination's import conditions, when that country's government calls for it and the exporter applies (Article 15).
  • Ministers may also designate conforming areas (Article 16) and certify conforming establishments (Article 17) where a destination makes that an import condition.
  • Each destination and product has its own handling rules (取扱要綱), listed in the tables to the procedural rules.
  • Applications go through MAFF's export certificate issuing system; a new system, JEXS, is due to replace it in January 2027.
  • Since 1 April 2025, certificates issued by the State cost 870 yen per application; nuclear-related certificates are free.

How we help: Compliant Always keeps each certificate with the shipment and lot it names, dated, and reads it against what the destination asks for. Ask about this

Free sale and health certificates for processed food

Certificates that food is made and lawfully sold in Japan, or made under the Food Sanitation Act, where no product-specific rule exists.

  • A free sale certificate states that food was made or processed in Japan and can be sold there; it covers food in the form sold in shops, not food for which MHLW or MAFF issues health certificates.
  • It is issued only where the destination's import procedure requires it, to an exporter with an address in Japan, by the Regional Agricultural Administration Office for the applicant's prefecture.
  • The application includes invoice and packing list copies, package photos showing the manufacturer, and documents showing how the exporter obtained the food.
  • The certificate shows the food can be sold in Japan; it does not certify the safety of each product exported.
  • For destinations without a government-agreed format, MHLW's Food Monitoring and Safety Division can certify matters such as manufacture under a Food Sanitation Act business licence.

How we help: Compliant Always keeps the free sale certificate with the lot and invoice it covers, dated, and shows which shipments still need one. Ask about this

Rice, tea and seafood

Products with procedures of their own before export.

  • Rice exports are notified in advance, by quantity, to the Regional Agricultural Administration Office under the Staple Food Act (食糧法).
  • Polished rice for China is milled at a mill China has designated, fumigated at a registered warehouse and exported with a phytosanitary certificate; brown rice cannot be exported to China.
  • Rice, tea and fruit may meet Japan's pesticide residue limits but not the destination's; MAFF publishes comparisons for 15 items, including rice and tea.
  • Seafood may need a certified processing or storage facility and a health certificate, depending on the destination; specified tunas and toothfish need catch certificates.
  • Class I specified aquatic animals and plants are exported only with a MAFF legal harvest certificate; Customs lists eel fry, abalone and sea cucumber under this Act.

How we help: Compliant Always keeps the rice notification, residue results and catch or harvest certificates with the lot, and reads them against what the destination asks for. Ask about this

Plant and animal quarantine

Inspections before export where the destination requires a phytosanitary or export quarantine certificate.

  • Plants for which the importing country requires a phytosanitary certificate cannot be exported until a plant protection officer has inspected them and issued one (Plant Protection Act, Article 10).
  • Applications go to the Plant Protection Station on the export inspection form, or through NACCS; an import permit from the destination is attached where one was obtained.
  • Animal products need an Animal Quarantine Service inspection and export quarantine certificate where the destination requires one; the certificate covers animal disease only.
  • Processed food containing imported meat or poultry is exported with a copy of the origin country's export health certificate.

How we help: Compliant Always keeps each phytosanitary and quarantine certificate with the consignment it names, and shows which ones are still missing before the sailing date. Ask about this

Radioactivity-related import measures

Some destinations still restrict Japanese food after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident or the 2023 ALPS treated water discharge.

    • As of 21 November 2025, 55 countries and regions had introduced measures and 50 had lifted them.
    • Russia requires test certificates; China, Hong Kong, Macau and Korea keep import bans on some prefectures or items.
    • After the 2023 discharge, Russia banned fishery products from all prefectures, Hong Kong fishery products from 10 prefectures, and Macau fresh food from 10 prefectures.
    • Radioactive material test certificates and certificates of place of production are issued without a fee.

    How we help: Compliant Always keeps the test and origin certificates with the lot, and shows which destinations on a route still ask for them. Ask about this

    Export declaration and customs clearance

    Goods leave Japan on an export declaration to Customs and an export permit, with the permits other laws require.

    • Exporters declare the goods to the Director-General of Customs and obtain an export permit, after any physical examination (Customs Act, Articles 67 and 70).
    • The declaration gives the goods' code, name, quantity and price, the destination, the consignor and the carrier, and is lodged with an invoice; a packing list and permits under other laws may be needed.
    • The exporter or a customs broker acting for it files the declaration; goods are usually permitted once in the hozei (bonded) area.
    • Where another law requires a permit, approval or inspection, Customs does not permit export until it is shown (Customs Act, Article 70).
    • Exporters keep books and documents, such as contracts, invoices and packing lists, for 5 years from the day after the export permit.

    How we help: Compliant Always keeps the invoice, packing list and export permit with the shipment and lot, dated, and shows what is missing before the goods are declared. Ask about this

    Who answers for what

    WhoWhat they answer forHow we help
    ExporterApplying for certificates, the accuracy of what it submits, and the safety, transport and storage of the food exported.Certificates, invoices and permits kept with each shipment, dated.
    Manufacturer or establishmentMeeting the certification requirements for a conforming establishment, and the records an inspector may ask for.Facility certifications and their renewal dates kept with the product.
    Customs broker or forwarderLodging the export declaration with the invoice and the permits other laws require.The shipment's documents in one place before the declaration.
    Certifying authorityMAFF, MHLW, prefectures, the Plant Protection Station and the Animal Quarantine Service, each for its certificates.Each certificate read against what the destination asks for.

    Where certificates are issued

    Most export certificates for food are applied for at MAFF's Regional Agricultural Administration Offices, the Hokkaido Regional Agricultural Administration Office or the Okinawa General Bureau; some are issued by prefectures or cities with public health centres, or by registered issuing bodies.

    Liquor certificates are issued by the regional taxation bureau for the brewery's location. Plant and animal export inspections are done by the Plant Protection Station and the Animal Quarantine Service at ports and airports.

    Where are the goods going?

    Most of what food have to meet is set where they are sold. Each guide sets out the rules on arrival, with the official source for each.

    Questions businesses ask

    Do I need an export certificate to export food from Japan?
    Only if the destination asks for one. Under Article 15 of the Export Facilitation Act, a certificate is issued when the destination's government calls for it and the exporter applies. Each destination and product has its own handling rules, listed by MAFF.
    What is a Japanese free sale certificate for food?
    A certificate that food was made or processed in Japan and can be sold there. The Regional Agricultural Administration Offices issue it for food in retail form, only where the destination's import procedure asks for it.
    Can I get a free sale certificate for food made only for export?
    Yes, if the manufacturer explains how it differs from the same kind of food made for Japan and that the differences raise no issue under the Food Sanitation Act.
    What if the destination wants a health certificate but has no agreement with Japan?
    MHLW's Food Monitoring and Safety Division can issue a certificate for food sanitation matters, such as manufacture under a Food Sanitation Act licence, on the format the destination requires, only where the import procedure needs it.
    Does tea exported from Japan need a phytosanitary certificate?
    It depends on the destination and the item. MAFF says plants, including tea, need a Plant Protection Station export inspection under the Plant Protection Act where the importing country requires it. The station publishes each country's conditions.
    Can organic JAS tea be exported as organic?
    Under organic equivalence arrangements, yes: the product is certified to organic JAS by a certification body that can issue export certificates, and that body issues an export certificate when the goods are exported.
    What do I need to export rice from Japan?
    A prior notification of the export quantity to the Regional Agricultural Administration Office under the Staple Food Act, and a phytosanitary certificate where the destination requires one. China accepts only polished rice from designated mills, fumigated at registered warehouses.
    What do I need to export seafood from Japan?
    It depends on the destination: often a certified processing or storage facility and a health certificate, sometimes radioactivity-related certificates. Specified tunas and toothfish need catch certificates, and the EU asks for a catch or processing certificate for most products.
    Do abalone, sea cucumber and eel fry need a certificate to leave Japan?
    Yes. Class I specified aquatic animals and plants need a legal harvest certificate from MAFF (Article 10 of the Specified Aquatic Animals and Plants Act). Customs lists eel fry, abalone, sea cucumber and their processed products among the goods it checks under that Act.
    Which countries still restrict Japanese food after Fukushima?
    As of 21 November 2025, Russia required test certificates, and China, Hong Kong, Macau and Korea kept import bans on some prefectures or items. 50 of the 55 countries and regions that introduced measures had lifted them.
    How much does a Japanese food export certificate cost?
    Since 1 April 2025, certificates issued by the State under Article 15 of the Act cost 870 yen per application, paid electronically or with revenue stamps. Radioactivity-related certificates are free.
    How does Compliant Always help with exporting from Japan?
    Our team reads the rules for the routes you ship. Compliant Always shows which export documents apply to your product, keeps them with the shipment beside what the destination asks for, and watches the sources for changes. It shows what the requirements say and what your documents show; you decide.

    Sources

    Compliant Always is a product of Lettuce Labs LLC. It shows what requirements say and what your documents show. It is not legal advice, and you decide.

    Tell us what you make, and we will show you the rules for it.

    Name the product and the markets you sell in. We will come back to you with what applies in Japan and what your paperwork needs to show.

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