A list of simplified procedures can be found at: https://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/topics/importedfoods/1-5.html
Furthermore, imports of poultry meat may not take place from the excluded areas. The exclusion applies to all poultry and poultry meat species. It is worth noting that the ban on imports may vary by product – for most countries, in the event of HPAI outbreaks in poultry, imports of poultry meat and live animals are banned for the whole country, but for meat products, the ban may only apply to a specific region. The list of regions currently subject to restrictions, mainly in relation to avian influenza, can be found at: https://www.maff.go.jp/aqs/english/news/hpai.html.
According to the list (accessed on May 25, 2023: ttps://www.maff.go.jp/aqs/topix/im/hpai.html#%E3%83%95%E3%83%A9%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B9-%E7%94%9F%E3%81%8D%E3%81%9F%E5%AE%B6%E3%81%8D%E3%82%93), among the EU countries, as many as 5 countries, including Denmark, Austria, Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden, were subject to an embargo on the export of poultry meat to Japan. The principle of regionalization applies to other EU countries with confirmed outbreaks of bird flu, including: France, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria.
The process of lifting restrictions can sometimes be very long,[1] but in most cases the Japanese authorities recognise the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) regulations in this area and lift restrictions once a country has regained HPAI-free status.
In the case of heat-treated down and feathers, the Japanese authorities do not, in principle, impose import restrictions.
The Japanese authorities recognise the principles of compartmentalisation with regard to highly pathogenic avian influenza. This means that Japanese veterinary authorities approve not only the establishment concerned for export, but the entire process, from live birds on the farm to their transport, to all the slaughtering process and possible processing, to storage and transport. At each of these stages, the biosafety and process management measures taken are reviewed in order to minimise the risk of the introduction of the avian influenza virus. Appropriate controls ensure that the animals are reared, transported, slaughtered and processed in disease-free regions and that the production facilities themselves meet the standards for biosafety and prevention of vectors of undesirable micro-organisms or viruses. In addition, a high level of traceability of animal and meat production and strict veterinary controls in the European Union, as part of cross-compliance requirements, can guarantee compliance with the rules relating to compartmentalisation. Thanks to the application of the principle of compartmentalisation, in the event of an outbreak of HPAI in a country, establishments which have undergone the approval procedure as part of compartmentalisation are excluded from the export ban.
Please note that the exported products need to be accompanied with a health certificate in English and in the language of the exporting country issued by the competent veterinary authority. Despite the EU-Japan trade agreement, health certificates agreed bilaterally between Japan and individual EU countries still apply. The certificate contains, inter alia, the following elements:
- Information on the consignor
- Information on the consignee
- Information on competent central and local authorities
- Date of slaughter and ante-mortem and post-mortem inspection
- Shipment identification
- Information indicating that the meat comes from poultry slaughtered in slaughterhouses authorised for export
- Information that the country is free of avian influenza
- Information that the area where the meat comes from is free of Newcastle disease (ND) and other notifiable diseases
The health certificate has to be signed by an official veterinarian authorised to do so.
[1] https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2018/february/tradoc_156617.pdf
