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Selling pet food in Japan

In Japan, food for dogs and cats falls under the Pet Food Safety Act, run by the agriculture and environment ministries. Importers and manufacturers notify before they start, keep record books for two years, label five particulars in Japanese, and meet limits for contaminants and some additives. Drug-like claims can bring in pharmaceutical law.

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

Main law
Pet Food Safety Act (愛がん動物用飼料の安全性の確保に関する法律)
Ministers
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and the Environment
Scope
Food, treats and supplements for dogs and cats
Before trading
Notification by importers and manufacturers
Records
Record books kept for two years
Label
Five particulars, in Japanese

Before a product goes on sale

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

  1. 1Is the product for dogs or cats, and is it food rather than a veterinary drug? Read more
  2. 2Has the importer or manufacturer notified before starting business? Read more
  3. 3Does it meet the limits for contaminants and additives, and the manufacturing standards? Read more
  4. 4Does the Japanese label show the five particulars? Read more
  5. 5Are record books kept for each import, batch and sale to a business? Read more

The rules, by area

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

Scope and the drug boundary

Which products the Act covers, and when a pet product becomes a drug.

  • The Act covers complete and balanced foods, general foods, treats, snacks, gums, supplements and mineral waters that provide nutrition for dogs and cats.
  • Veterinary medicines are excluded, being regulated under the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act.
  • Depending on its ingredients, labelling, advertising and oral promotion, a pet food may be considered a veterinary drug, MAFF warns.
  • The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Minister of the Environment set the standards, by joint ordinance (Article 5).

How we help: Compliant Always sets your label and marketing copy beside the drug boundary, so wording that reads as a veterinary drug shows up before print. Ask about this

Standards and specifications

Limits on what pet food may contain, and how it is made.

  • Pet food that does not meet the manufacturing standards or the specifications for its constituents, or that contains harmful substances, must not be made, imported or sold (Article 6).
  • Maximum limits include aflatoxin B1 at 0.02 µg/g, deoxynivalenol at 2 µg/g for dogs and 1 µg/g for cats, cadmium at 1 µg/g, lead at 3 µg/g, inorganic arsenic at 2 µg/g and melamine at 2.5 µg/g, at 10% moisture.
  • Limits also apply to organochlorine compounds and pesticides such as glyphosate (15 µg/g), and to ethoxyquin, BHA and BHT together (150 g/t, with ethoxyquin at most 75 g/t for dogs) and sodium nitrite (100 g/t).
  • Heating or drying must be enough to eliminate harmful microorganisms, and propylene glycol must not be used in cat food.
  • The government may order a business to dispose of pet food that does not comply or contains harmful substances.

How we help: Upload a lab report and Compliant Always reads it line by line against the pet food limits, with the source beside each one. Ask about this

Notification and record books

What importers, manufacturers and wholesalers must do before and while they trade.

  • Importers and manufacturers notify their name, business premises, sales offices and storage sites before they start business (Article 9), to the Regional Agricultural Administration Office for their head office.
  • A business that already holds a Food Sanitation Act permit still notifies as a pet food manufacturer if it makes pet food.
  • Importers, manufacturers and wholesalers record the name and quantity of pet food they import, make or sell to other businesses, and keep the records for two years (Article 10).
  • An importer records the date of import, the exporting country and supplier, the packing, the country of manufacture, the manufacturer and the raw materials. Sales direct to pet owners need no entry.
  • The government and FAMIC inspect importers, manufacturers and sellers, in principle without notice, and may take samples.

How we help: Compliant Always keeps the manufacturer's details, raw material list and shipment records with each product and lot, so the record book is drawn from the file. Ask about this

Labelling

What a pet food label in Japan has to show.

  • Pet food is labelled in Japanese with its name, best-before date, ingredients, country of origin and the business's name and address.
  • The name makes clear whether the food is for dogs or cats.
  • The best-before date (賞味期限) is set on scientific and rational grounds; ingredients, in principle, list everything used, with additives such as preservatives, antioxidants and colourants shown with their purpose.
  • The country of origin is where the last substantial change happened; the business is labelled as manufacturer, importer or seller.

How we help: Compliant Always sets your label beside the five particulars, with the source for each. Ask about this

Incidents and recalls

What MAFF asks of a business when a pet is harmed.

  • Manufacturers, importers and sellers bear the primary responsibility for the safety of pet food, MAFF states.
  • A business that believes a product has harmed a pet's health contacts the pet food officer at its Regional Agricultural Administration Office immediately.
  • MAFF asks businesses to keep an accident manual and to make recall information public.

How we help: Compliant Always ties each document to the lot and supplier it came from, so the scope of a problem can be read from the record. Ask about this

Who answers for what

WhoWhat they answer forHow we help
ImporterNotification before business, record books and imported food that meets the standards.Manufacturers' documents and lab reports read and dated before the goods ship.
ManufacturerNotification, manufacturing standards, record books and the label.Raw material and batch records kept with each product.
WholesalerRecord books for sales to other businesses.The record behind each sale drawn from the file.
Brand or retailerA label and marketing that stay on the food side of the drug line.Claims set beside the boundary before they go out.

National law, prefectural enforcement

Product law in Japan is national. Ministries and the Consumer Affairs Agency set the standards; prefectural governors and cities with public health centres license food businesses, receive food recall notifications and carry out inspections.

Imports are checked at the border: food and food contact articles at MHLW quarantine stations, and liquor licences are granted by the tax office for each place of sale.

Shipping out of Japan?

Exporting pet food from Japan

Questions businesses ask

Which pet food law applies in Japan?
The Act on Ensuring the Safety of Pet Food (愛がん動物用飼料の安全性の確保に関する法律), Act No. 83 of 2008, run by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Minister of the Environment.
Does the Pet Food Safety Act cover all pets?
It covers food, treats, snacks, gums, supplements and mineral waters that provide nutrition for dogs and cats, MAFF explains. Veterinary medicines are excluded.
Do I need to register to import pet food into Japan?
Importers and manufacturers notify the government before they start business, through the Regional Agricultural Administration Office for their head office, and update it when details change.
What records must a pet food importer keep?
The name and quantity, date of import, exporting country and supplier, packing, country of manufacture, manufacturer and raw materials, kept for two years.
What must a pet food label in Japan show?
In Japanese: the name, showing whether it is for dogs or cats; the best-before date; the ingredients; the country of origin; and the business's name and address.
Are there limits on contaminants in pet food?
Yes. They include aflatoxin B1 0.02 µg/g, cadmium 1 µg/g, lead 3 µg/g, inorganic arsenic 2 µg/g, melamine 2.5 µg/g and glyphosate 15 µg/g, at 10% moisture.
Can propylene glycol be used in pet food?
Not in food for cats, under the manufacturing standards.
Can pet food make health claims?
Depending on its ingredients, labelling and advertising, a pet food may be treated as a veterinary drug under the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act, MAFF warns.
Who inspects pet food businesses in Japan?
The government and FAMIC, the Food and Agricultural Materials Inspection Center, in principle without notice. They check record books and compliance, and may take samples.
How does Compliant Always help with selling in Japan?
Our team reads the rules for the markets you sell in, including the Japanese-language sources. Compliant Always shows which apply to your product, keeps the documents behind each one ready, 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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