On 31 March 2026, a bill to amend the Customs Tariff Act, the Customs Act, and the Temporary Customs Tariff Measures Act, etc. was passed. The amendments include the establishment of a new system to prevent circumvention of anti-dumping duties and abolishment of the Special Provision for Determining Taxable Price (0.6 times rule) for individual imports, which we covered in a previous post. Summary of the amendments The key changes made by the amendments are…
Japan is reportedly considering a significant revision to its de minimis customs regime, aligning with global trends. The proposed changes aim to address the rapid growth of cross-border e-commerce shipments that currently benefit from duty and tax exemptions under the existing de minimis rules. 1. Current Framework Under Japan’s current system, imported goods valued below JPY 10,000 (approximately USD 60) are exempt from customs duties and consumption tax. This threshold was originally intended to simplify…
The number of import permits has been increasing significantly over the past few years due to the expansion of cross-border electronic commerce. In the midst of this trend, many cases of smuggling of illicit drugs and intellectual property infringing goods have been detected, and cases of inappropriate importation of FS-used cargo (*) by impersonation and tax evasion by low value declarations have become apparent. In light of this background, the Customs and Excise Department will…
Japan Customs has amended their import procedures in order to continuously realize both the effective border enforcement and the appropriate collection of taxes as well as securing the smooth import. The amendments were made in response to the circumstances where (1) imports of cargo transacted through online shopping platforms and other means have been increasing due to the expansion of cross-border E-commerce (“EC”), (2) a large number of smuggling of illegal drugs and goods infringing…