JPN/684
WTO/SPS
JP Japon
  • 65 - Agriculture
2019-12-18
2019-10-03

Plants and plant products

Proposed revision of the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Plant Protection Act about Phytosanitary Certificate. Language(s): English. Number of pages: 3

Japan prohibits the import of any plants which are not accompanied by Phytosanitary Certificate (PC) issued by the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of exporting countries based on Article 6 of the Japanese Plant Protection Act (Act No. 151 of 1950) except for plants specified in the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Plant Protection Act (Ordinance No. 73 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, 1950).

The recently conducted risk assessment showed that plants which have undergone certain processing such as drying and shredding etc. have a low risk of attaching quarantine pests.

Therefore, Japan has determined to specify some plants which are unnecessary to be accompanied by PC in the amended Ordinance for Enforcement of the Plant Protection Act (please check the notified document).

In addition, as a pragmatic approach, Japan has exceptionally inspected some plants not specified in the Ordinance imported by freight which are not accompanied by PC, and accepted to import if those plants pass the inspection. However, considering the recent reports that some serious quarantine pests have entered into Japan such as White Potato Cyst Nematode (Globodera pallida) and Plum Pox Virus, Japan has decided to stop the above mentioned exception in order to reduce the entry risks of such pests. Japan would request NPPO of WTO Members to inform those who have an intention to export plants to Japan after June 2020 (six months after the amended Ordinance comes into force) that it will be necessary to accompany PC for plants that are not specified in the amended Ordinance.