Japan: Change to Country of Origin Labeling Requirements Notified

On March 27, 2017, Japan notified to the World Trade Organization (WTO) an “Outline of {a} draft amendment to the Food Labelling Standards concerning the place of origin labelling of ingredients of processed foods” (i.e., G/TBT/N/JPN/551). The draft amendment explains that the country of origin labeling requirement for ingredients will be expanded to include the heaviest ingredient in all processed foods domestically produced in Japan. Japan also published, in Japanese, an invitation for comments on the same day. The Japanese comment period ends on April 25, 2017, while the WTO’s 60-day public comment period ends on May 26, 2017. Interested U.S. parties are encouraged to share their comments or concerns, by May 1, 2017, with the National Institute of Standards and Technology at ncsci@nist.gov (and send a copy of any comments or concerns to farah.naim@fas.usda.gov and agtokyo@fas.usda.gov). 

Japan: Change to Country of Origin Labeling Requirements Notified