Columns : Customs Specialist's Eyes

Thank you for reading Selling In Japan website.  We trust the website has given you some basic knowledge to be ready to plan export and sales in Japan.

This corner is to provide you tips and information on the successful examples or troubles, and news from the customs office that we face in our daily operation.  You can also see a little bit of what products are sold by other non-resident importers, and how they prepared to clear the regulations.

We hope the information here will encourage non-resident sellers to explore Japan market for successful business! 

As of October 1, 2023, revisions to the ACP System have been implemented. Changes include additional requirements in the designated Customs form C7500 and an increase in the documents required upon declaration. Please refer to the updated pages for further information.

For details, please visit the Customs website.

The answer is Yes and No.  With more people enjoying gardening, more exporters are looking at Japan as a potential market to sell fertilizers.  However, fertilizers are controlled by Fertilizer Regulation Act in Japan, and overseas entities cannot import fertilizers in their own name, and need a Japanese importer to clear the customs.  Those importers need registration with Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and this registration is not made available to overseas entities.  This is why foreign companies need to use a Japanese importer to import fertilizers in Japan.

Fertilizes also need Japanese labels stating the fertilizer registration number, type of fertilizers, ingredient, manufacturing date, manufacturer and importer information.

When you appoint an ACP, you will need to submit to Japan Customs Office some identification paperwork to prove your company existence along with other forms designated by the customs.  Applicants from many countries use Certificate of Incorporation, or other business registration issued by the authority of the country.  Formats of such certificates or registrations vary from country to country, and sometimes lack the company address, which Japan Customs needs to see.  In this case, we often use tax registration or statement, which are available in any country.  Note that it's essential that the document is issued by national, state, city, or other municipal government agency, showing your company name and address.

When you want to use any other address than that on your official certificate, you can use semi-official forms including utility bill, bank statement, or company website.  It is prerequisite that you have a government-issued document showing your registered address, and the semi-official paper can only serve as a secondary material.

Also required is a proof of your company representative to sign the customs form.  You can use the above-mentioned government letters or semi-official forms, or more easily a scan of your representative's business card.

Non-resident importers can only import simple products which are not regulated for import or sale in Japan.  The biggest market for such importers is FBA Japan.

Here are some of the items most often sold by non-resident importers on FBA Japan.

• Smartphone cases
• Yoga and exercise goods
• Accessories and other fashion items
• Interior items
• Outdoor goods(except cutlery and cooking items)

These are relatively easy to import for new importers, and it may be an idea to start with these items to see the market, and then expand to other categories.

In regular trading with actual buyers purchasing the products, the invoice value is set base on such purchase price.  When non-resident importers import goods in Japan, however, the price is not determined because it has not been purchased at the point of import.

In this case, the customs office deems it appropriate to declare at a price which is equivalent to CIF value, the price including the costs that may happen just before the goods arrive in Japan port.

Take the example of items sold on FBA, where the majority of non-resident importers currently sell.  In the customs office's understanding, the balance between the selling price on Amazon and the costs in Japan would correspond to the CIF value of the product.

In order to verify the invoice value, you will need to prepare the proof of the selling price and costs in Japan.  These proofs need to be kept in place, not only at the time of customs clearance, but also for 7 years in case of the customs audit.

With the world e-commerce market growing borderless, Fulfilment by Amazon(FBA) is the most often chosen platform by non-resident importers to Japan.

FBA is supported by many companies including logistics companies to carry goods, inspection and compliance companies if product testing is required, and promotion companies if sellers want to boost their sales.  While you can find many on the Internet, Amazon Service Provider Network(SPN) list quality service providers that Amazon.com has approved.

Operating this Selling In Japan website, Aikou Logistics Corporation is now on SPN as an international shipping service provider.  Among many other logistics companies, Aikou Logistics is a very rare company that can provide the ACP service.  If you are looking for an ACP, please ask the companies on SPN if they can provide such service.

These articles are written by the professionals and customs specialists of Aikou Logistics Corporation, Japan.

We present latest news and tips that we find in our daily operation to help you understand Japan's laws and systems surrounding non-resident importers.

Feel free to contact us if you have any question or request on what you want to read!