2001 Individual Action Plan for JAPAN Summary of Improvements Made and Further Improvements Planned
| IAP Chapter | Improvements Made Since Last IAP | Further Improvements Planned |
| Tariffs | In April 2001, Japan implemented the voluntary tariff elimination in applied tariff on 1 item (HS-9 digit) from industrial sector, and the voluntary tariff reduction in applied tariff on 1 item from agricultural sector. In April 2001, Japan extended the effective period of GSP over the next 10 years to 31 March 2011 and improved the scheme by taking various measures such as broadening the product coverage of duty-free and quota-free treatment for goods originating in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). As a result, all textile and clothing products from LDCs are duty-free and quota -free. |
Tariffs on crude oil will be reduced from FY2002 and eliminated in FY2006. And tariffs on 9 items of petroleum products will be reduced in FY 2002. And moreover, tariffs on 15 items of alcoholic beverages will be eliminated in FY 2002. |
| Non-Tariff Measures | Japan has brought a new electronic system (JETRAS-Japan Electronic Open Network Trade Control System) to full operation in April 2000, which allows filing for import/export permissions and approvals under provisions of the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Law. Ethyl alcohol of an alcoholic strength by volume of 90% vol or higher has been imported under state monopoly, exempt from tariff. This state monopoly was abolished in April 2001, and any person who is permitted to import alcohol under the Alcohol Business Law is now able to import ethyl alcohol of an alcoholic strength by volume of 90% vol or higher intended for use in distiling industrial alcohol free of tariff. |
Japan will continue its effort to improve JETRAS, thereby effectively expediting import/export processing. |
| Services | (Communication services: Telecommunications) An amendment of the Telecommunications Business Law was approved by the Diet, which contains the introduction of the provision in order to prevent or remove anti-competitive practices by suppliers with major market power and the relaxation of tariffs interconnection agreement to notification process. An amendment of the NTT Law which relaxes foreign capital ownership restriction on NTT holding company from less than 20% to one-third, was approved by the Diet. (Environmental services) According to the revision of Law Relating to the Prevention of Marine Pollution and Maritime Disaster, the limitation of the number of licenses conferred to service suppliers of waste oil disposal at sea from vessels has been abolished since 27 May 1998. (Financial services) An amendment of Automobile Liability Security Law, which eliminates the limitation that 60 percent of amounts of reinsurance on the compulsory automobile third party liability insurance is subject to the compulsory coverage by the Government, was approved by the Diet. (Port Transport Business) The Government deregulated the license systems and removed the control over the balance between supply and demand in the industry at the 12 major container ports in November in 2000. |
(Financial services) We will complete the Financial System Reform by year 2001. Japan has been committed to providing all WTO Members with a Most-Favoured-Nation treatment in accordance with Japan's Schedule of Commitments. (Tourism and Travel Related Services) Japan will expand the availability of visas for group tours to all the APEC members. (Transport services: Rail) On the general level, demand-supply adjustment regulations will be abolished. (Transport services: Road) On the general level, demand-supply adjustment regulations will be abolished. Bills abolishing regulations on omnibus and taxi industry was enacted in May 2000. Of the previously mentioned bills, the bills relating to omnibus and taxi industry will be implemented in February 2002. |
| Investment | Defined Contribution Pension Act which allows portability of corporate pension assets was enacted in June 2001. Japan partially introduced Prior Clearance Procedures for Application of Laws and Ordinances by Administrative Organs, popularly called a "No Action Letter" system. Japan introduced current value accounting, such as accounting for financial instruments. |
Japan will take further steps to improve the domestic business environment, such as introduction of the consolidate tax payments, and corporate governance related measures including liberalization of stock options. Japan will promote regulatory reform following" The Three-Year Program for Promoting Regulatory Reform". |
| Standards & Conformance | By the end of 2000, Japan had aligned the all existing national standards including JIS in the initial priority four areas with international standards.
JISC homepage (http://www.jisc.go.jp/eng/) is providing further information about JIS. Agreement on mutual recognition between Japan and the European Community and the Implementation Law for the MRA were authorized by the Diet in June. As a part of the "The Three-year Program for Promoting Regulatory Reform", relevant Ministries and Agencies have completed their reviews by the end of March 2001(FY2000). For 11 laws under the authority of Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) such as the Consumer Product Safety law, supplier's self declaration of conformity scheme (SDOC scheme)as well as third-party certification schemes. Japan, together with Malaysia will organize the APEC/SCSC training programmes on standards and conformity assessment from 2001 to 2002, as a APEC/TILF programme. Japan set up an internet web site on standard and labeling under the Law Concerning Standardization and Proper Labelling of Agricultural and Forestry Products (the JAS Law) Law in 2001 to deepen the understanding of Japan's system by exporting countries. |
Japan will host the Asia Pacific Metrology Program (APMP) General Assembly in November, International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) General Assembly in October, and International Accrediation Forum (IAF) General Assembly in early November this year In addition to its serving as the Secretariat APMP, Japan will also serve as the Secretariat of APLMF from 2002. Animal Quarantine Inspection Procedure Automated System (ANIPAS), developed and operated in Japan, will improve in order to ensure the smooth and efficient implementation of the import inspection. |
| Customs Procedures | In March 2001, Japan Customs introduced a Simplified Declaration Procedure for imports which allows paperless procedures and the separation of declarations for release of goods and duty payment. Japan Customs also introduced paperless procedures for export declarations with effect from March 2001. In May 2001, Japan Customs amended the regulation concerning handling goods being suspended by Customs for the suspicious of infringement of Intellectual Property Rights not to allow to withdraw the import declarations and reships the goods before the completion of verification. In June 2001, Japan acceded to the revised Kyoto Convention. In July 1, 2001, Japan Customs established a Customs Valuation Center at Tokyo Customs as a national center to ensure the further consistent and uniform application of Valuation methods across regional Customs offices. In October 2000, Japan Customs established a working group consisting of experts from academia, the business sector, and relevant government authorities to discuss issues on how to handle the changing environment effected by the impact of the IT revolution on the international movement of goods. |
Japan Customs plans to upgrade its website with the focus on improving accessibility of information and user freindliness. The upgrade will make further information, such as certain details of advance ruling information and items applied for import suspension by right holders, available to the public through the Internet. Japan Customs will upgrade Air-NACCS (Nippon Automated Cargo Clearance System) in October 2001. The upgrade will allow authorized importers who meet criteria specified by Customs to enjoy paperless clearance procedures by using the Simplified Declaration Procedure for import air cargoes. Japan will implement the e-Japan Priority Policy Program, including the realization of paperless import and export procedures by the end of fiscal 2003. Japan aims to apply the HS 2002 version from January 1, 2002. Japan will introduce the standardized format, with standardized data elements, for electronic import declaration to customes by 2005. |
| Intellectual Property Rights | The Japan Patent Office (JPO) revised and published the Examination Guidelines for Patents and Utility Models in December 2000. The JPO also published the policies concerning Business Method Patents and a follow-up to these policies in October 2000 and March 2001 respectively. The Japan Patent Office is to accept 200 trainees from both public and private sectors of the Asia-Pacific region by the end of Japanese fiscal 2001 ending march 31,2002. Since March 2001, the Industrial Property Digital Library (IPDL) has been equipped with FI/F-term search services in English. Also, the scope of searchable the Patent Abstracts of Japan (PAJ) was expanded to 1976. The Japan Copyright Office organized APEC Copyright Seminar on March 2001, which focus on copyright issues responding to the development of information technology and e-commerce. |
The JPO aims to develop an on-line procedure system based on the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). The JPO aims to establish a network between the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) for the purpose of electronically exchanging priority documents. An appropriate procedure to ease congestion of the IPDL as well as Number Search Functions in English will be introduced for oversea's IPDL users. Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries will develop electric system of some procedure concerning plant breeder's right such as submission of application for and provision of certifications on variety registration. |
| Competition Policy | The Free Trade Commission (FTC)'s jurisdiction, prescribed in the section 27-2 of Antimonopoly Act (AMA), was revised to specify the role of international cooperation regarding FTC's operation on Jan.6th 2001. At the policy speech to the 151st session of the Diet, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pointed out that the Government of Japan (GOJ) would strengthen the structure of the FTC, which should serve as the guardian of the market, thereby establishing competition policies appropriate for the 21st century. Amendment of the Subcontract Act concerning provision of the content of the order and preservation of the record of the subcontract transaction by using information technology came into force on April 1, 2001. |
The FTC has convened a study group which consists of experts from various fields in order to consider and review the AMA, especially regulations of overall concentration. It is scheduled to finalize a report by the end of this autumn. The FTC & Ministry of Public Managemant, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (MPHPT) will develop and publish "Guideline for promotion of Competition in the Telecommunicaitons Business Field" to prevent possible violation of the Antimonopoly Act and the Telecommunicaitons Business Law, and to create the environment in which carriers can operate as autonomously as possible. The GOJ will continue to strengthen the structure of the FTC. |
| Government Procurement | The Act for Promoting Proper Tendering and Contracting for Public Works came into force on April 1 2001. It sets out principles such as ensuring transparency of tendering and contracting procedures, promoting fair competition, and abolishing improper actions. | The government schedules to introduce submission and opening of tenders by Internet for part of public works under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in October 2001. The government intends to introduce such a system, in principle, in all public works under the jurisdiction of the Ministry by the end of FY 2004. |
| Deregulation/Regulatory Review | "The Three-Year Program for Promoting Regulatory Reform" was decided by the Cabinet on March 30, 2001 to reflect the requests and opinions from the public (including from abroad) as well as the results of the monitoring by the Regulatory Reform Committee under the Administrative Reform Promotion Headquarters.The Regulatory Reform Committee was abolished on April 1, and on the same date, a deliberative organ addressing further regulation reform, the Council for Regulatory Reform, was established under the Cabinet Office. (Port Transport) -By deregulating the license systems into the permission systems, the Government removed the control over the balance between supply and demand in the industry at the 12 major container ports in November in 2000. (Cargo Trucking)-The number of cars necessary for approval of trucking business was lessened to 5 in April, 2001 |
The Council for Regulatory Reform examines and discusses the approach for the regulatory reform which is necessary for structural reform of the economic society. Revision of the Road Transport Law for abolishing the demand/supply adjustment regulations on omnibus and taxi industry, based on the report of the Council for Transportation Policy, with establishing the measure for the preservation of safety, consumer protection etc. (Promulgated in May 2000, to be implemented in February 2002) |
| Implementation of WTO Obligations/ROOs | Japan continued to comply with its commitments and obligations under the WTO Agreements, Annex1A,B,C. | No further action planned |
| Dispute Mediation | Japan invokes the procedures under the Dispute Settlement Understanding of the WTO Agreement to resolve disputes over obligations or benefits provided in the WTO Agreement. In order to further enhance fairness, effectiveness and credibility of the dispute settlement mechanism under the WTO, Japan has actively taken leadership in advancing the work under way in the WTO towards the amendment of the Dispute Settlement Understanding. Notably, Japan took a leadership in coordinating the effort of joint-proposal members towards amending the DSU so that the proposal can be considered by the Ministerial Conference of the WTO to be held in Doha, Qatar. | Japan will seek to prevent confrontations and disputes through promoting mutual understanding and will address disputes that do arise in good faith and seek amicable solution of such disputes, in accordance with the WTO Agreement and other international agreements. |
| Mobility of Business People | In December 2000, Ministry of Justice of Japan clarified the criteria of business capacity for landing permission of "investor/Business Manager". In February 2001, Japan reviewed the examination of IT professionals for entry and residence to Facilitate the movement of business people. |
The Minister of Justice of Japan established the second edition of the Basic Plan for Immigration Control which sets forth the basic guideline on Immigration Control in March 2000. One of the main objectives of this plan is "the promotion of smooth exchange of personnel " and Japan continuously makes its efforts to steamline and expedite the mobility of business people in accordance with this plan. |
| Information Gathering and Analysis | The recommendations made by the Market Access Ombudsman Council of the Office of Trade and Investment Ombudsman (OTO) in March 2000 and the policy actions decided by the government are fully available on the OTO website. Individual complaints raised to the OTO and measures taken are also available on the OTO website. The JIC (Japan Investment Council) opened a new website "Investment in Japan Information Center (IJIC)" in July 2000, aiming at providing a comprehensive directory and online information from the Japanese government, local governments, and private sectors. Visit IJIC Web Site (http://www.invest-japan.go.jp/en_index.html) |
The OTO continues updating the information on complaints raised to the system. |
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