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Improving Safety Assurance of Imported Foods
After the Food Sanitation Act was amended in 2018, attaching sanitary certification to milk, dairy products, pufferfish, and oysters for raw consumption, and HACCP-based hygiene management of the meat and organs of livestock and poultry (hereinafter referred to as “meat for consumption”) became compulsory when importing items in order to ensure the safety of imported food products.
Meat and meat products
1) Confirmation of hygiene management based on HACCP
Pursuant to the provisions of Article 11, Paragraph (1) of the Food Sanitation Act and Article 11-2, Paragraph (1) of the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Food Sanitation Act, as of June 1, 2020, meat for consumption shall not be imported unless it has been produced or processed in a country, region or facility where HACCP-based hygiene management is implemented.
This provision will not come into effect until June 1, 2021; however, persons importing meat for consumption for sale must endeavour to import meat for consumption produced or processed in a country, region or facility specified by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.
For details on which countries, regions, and facilities have been confirmed as using HACCP-based hygiene management, refer to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare website.
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2) Hygiene Certificates
Pursuant to Article 10, Paragraph (2) of the Food Sanitation Act and Article 8 of the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Food Sanitation Act, meat for consumption or products thereof (meat products) shall not be imported for sale as food unless they have a hygiene certificate issued by a government organization of the country of export attached.
⚠ There are no amendments in the law regarding attaching hygiene certificates to meat for consumption or meat products.
Milk & Dairy Products
Pursuant to the provisions of Article 10, Paragraph (2) of the Food Sanitation Act and Article 8 of the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Food Sanitation Act, as of June 1, 2020, milk and dairy products must not be imported for sale as food unless they have a hygiene certificate issued by a government organization of the country of export attached.
For details on applicable foods, countries from which hygiene certificates are accepted, and formatting, etc., refer to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare website.
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Pufferfish & Oysters for Raw Consumption
Pursuant to the provisions of Article 11, Paragraph (2) of the Food Sanitation Act and Article 11-2, Paragraph (2) of the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Food Sanitation Act, as of June 1, 2020, pufferfish and oysters for raw consumption must not be imported for sale unless they have a hygiene certificate issued by a government organization of the country of export attached.
Furthermore, unprocessed pufferfish that can be classified by species or pufferfish that have only had all of their internal organs removed will continue to be permitted for import.
For details on applicable foods, countries from which hygiene certificates are accepted, and formatting, etc., refer to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare website.
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