Planned amendments to trade related regulations and technical standards of Japan;
Japan's WTO notifications on regulatory changes in comment phase

The World Trade Organization's (WTO) "Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade" (TBT) requires signatories to inform the WTO in advance of any planned changes to national regulations and technical standards with possible implications to trade.

The FCCJ - in co-operation with the Embassy of Finland in Tokyo - has commenced a service to publish Japanese authorities' notifications to the WTO on its website. The notifications concern changes that are in the "comment phase" ie. not in effect yet.

The service provides FCCJ members with a chance to grasp in advance detailed changes to regulations or technical standards in Japan, and to demand for corrective action or explanation, if the changes are likely to have discriminatory or other adverse effects to the trade.

The FCCJ encourages its member companies to check the list of newest notifications from the website on regular basis, and to consult the Embassy of Finland in Tokyo if the change in question is likely to develop into technical barrier to trade. The table includes proposals in the comment phase made by Japan.

Documents related to the proposals can be ordered here.

Most recent proposals (Updated 30 January 20121)