Exporting organic products to Japan
Japan's system differs from the US and EU in one decisive way: the Organic JAS mark is compulsory, not optional, and it is normally affixed inside Japan by a certified importer. Your own certificate never appears on the pack.
1) Mandatory organic standards and labels
Organic food is regulated under the Act on Japanese Agricultural Standards (JAS Act). MAFF owns the scheme; FAMIC performs the technical assessment of certification bodies.
The mark is mandatory. Agricultural products, livestock products and processed foods may not be sold under 有機 or Organic, or any confusingly similar wording, unless they carry the Organic JAS mark. Only operators certified by a MAFF-registered certification body may affix it. There is no route to selling organic in Japan without it.
The standards in force cover organic plant products, organic processed foods including alcoholic beverages, organic feed, organic livestock products and organic algae. All were revised recently, with the current technical criteria taking effect through 2024 and into 2025 — confirm which edition your certifier is auditing against.
The 95% rule, and what has no Japanese equivalent
Organic processed food must be at least 95% organically produced ingredients, excluding water and salt. **There is no made with organic tier in Japan.** US Made With Organic products fall outside the equivalence arrangement and may not be sold as organic in Japan — with one narrow exception for made with organic grapes wine that meets the 95% threshold with all grapes organic.
A separate in-conversion label exists. Products outside the JAS scope — honey, seafood, cosmetics, textiles — cannot carry the Organic JAS mark at all.
2) Important voluntary standards and labels
- 特別栽培農産物 (Specially Cultivated Agricultural Products) — a MAFF labelling guideline, not a JAS standard, requiring roughly half the regional norm for pesticide applications and synthetic nitrogen. Not an organic claim, and frequently mistaken for one.
- JONA original certification — covers categories JAS does not, such as aquaculture and some non-food lines.
- Demeter, COSMOS, NATRUE, GOTS — carried on-pack for biodynamic, cosmetics and textile claims.
- USDA and EU logos — may appear where a bilateral arrangement permits, alongside the compulsory JAS mark.
Cosmetics and personal care are unregulated for the word organic in Japan, so third-party marks carry the whole meaning there.
3) Approved certification and control bodies
MAFF accredits Registered Certifying Bodies (RCBs), which certify operators to ISO/IEC 17065. Two lists are published: domestic RCBs and overseas RCBs, of which there are around twenty-two, spread across Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, New Zealand, India, Mexico, Guatemala, Armenia, China, Vietnam and Korea.
The distinction that decides your route. Being certified by an RCB means your operation holds JAS certification and may grade and label product itself. Entering under an equivalence arrangement means you hold only your home-country certificate, and the JAS mark is applied in Japan by a certified importer — your operation never holds JAS certification.
4) Import requirements
Route A — equivalence plus a certified importer
- The product is certified under your own country's organic system, and produced or last processed and packed there.
- Your country's government agency, or a body MAFF has designated, issues an organic export certificate for the consignment. The US uses USDA Form TM-11 with the prescribed attestation; the EU and Northern Ireland use TRACES; Great Britain uses its own paper certificate.
- A certified importer (認証輸入業者), certified by a Japanese RCB, imports the goods and affixes the Organic JAS mark in Japan. Alternatively you may affix it abroad under an outsourcing contract with that certified importer.
The export certificate must accompany the goods and must carry everything the JAS enforcement regulation requires: the issuing body's name and address, the issue date, the product type and quantity, the name and address of the overseas body that performed the certification, and a statement that the goods have been graded as organic. Ordinary food import controls — food sanitation notification, customs, quarantine and the Food Labelling Act — apply on top.
Route B — direct JAS certification
You are certified by a MAFF-accredited RCB, operate a formal grading system with a Grading Manager signing off each lot against a documented procedure, and apply the mark yourself. This is the only route for countries without equivalence — China, India, Vietnam, Korea, Thailand, Türkiye and most of Latin America and Africa. It is also required for repackers, and for organic algae, which no arrangement covers.
Which countries have equivalence, and for what
| Partner | Plant | Livestock | Processed | Alcohol |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EU, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| United States | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Switzerland | yes | yes | yes | no |
| New Zealand | yes | no | plant-origin only | yes |
| Taiwan | yes | no | plant-origin only | yes |
| Argentina | yes | no | plant-origin only | no |
Processed foods derived from algae are excluded from every arrangement. Alcoholic beverage equivalence is recent for several partners, so check the date before shipping organic wine or spirits — one MAFF scope document has lagged its own press releases on this point.
5) Further information
- MAFF — Organic JASThe scheme hub in English: standards, technical criteria and the certifying body lists.
- MAFF — exporting organic products to JapanThe two import routes set out by the competent authority.
- MAFF — organic equivalencyThe country scope list and the procedure documents for each partner.
- AMS — Japan trade policyThe US-side view of the arrangement, including Form TM-11 and its attestation.
- MAFF organic portal (Japanese)The complete lists of registered certifying bodies and certified operators.
Last reviewed: 2026-09-06