CONTENTS
Japan Customs Report
002 003
004 006 008
012 014 016 018 022
026 028 030 032
034 037
041 042 044 045 046 048 049 049 052
055 056 058 060 061 062 063 064 065 068 Preface
Topics
Mission of Japan Customs Japan Customs 150th Anniversary SMART Customs Initiative 2020
Effective Border Management No escape for any smuggling Anti-terrorism and anti-WMD （Weapons of Mass Destruction） Measures IPR Enforcement at the Border Advance Ruling / Post clearance Audit / Investigation
Authorized Economic Operator （AEO） Program Effectiveness of an AEO Program Partnership with Overseas AEO programs Liberalization of customs offices to which import/export declarations are submitted
Faster Customs Clearance Procedures through NACCS Single Window
Activities in the field of WTO Promoting Economic Partnership Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation （APEC）
Asia-Europe Meeting （ASEM）
World Customs Organization（WCO）
Customs Capacity Building WCO Regional Training Centre WCO Regional Customs Laboratory Training to develop desired Customs officials
Diagram of Customs & Tariff Bureau and regional Customs Japan Customs Jurisdiction History of Japan Customs Japan Customs Operations at a glance Drug seizures in Japan Export and Import permissions through NACCS Countries and economies under Japan's Generalized System of Preference （GSP）
Generalized System of Preference （GSP）
Trade Statistics Contact Information
Japan Customs, cooperating with
businesses and government authorities around the world, achieves its Missions
Preface
The Customs and Tariff Bureau a nd Japa n Cu stom s h ave c a r r ied through three missions; ensuring safe and secure society through effective l a w e n f o r c e m e n t a t t h e b o r d e r, collecting customs duties and domestic consumption taxes appropriately and fairly, and facilitating trade, including faster customs procedures.
Under expansion of covid-19 and a distribution system becomes more important, Japan Customs has been trying to provide appropriate and prompt Customs clearance with a sense of tension.
All of these should lead towards the sound development of world trade.
Effective enforcement at the border, leading to peoples’ security and safety, is one of the important missions for Japan Customs. In addition to the control of methamphetamine, cannabis, other illicit drugs and firearms and terrorism- related materials, Japan Customs has further enhanced its control at the border over smuggling of intellectual property rights（IPR）
infringing goods, counterfeit securities, and stolen automobiles.
Appropriate and fair collection of customs duties and domestic
c o n s u m p t i o n t a x e s a r e a l s o a n important mission. In FY2019(April 2019 to March 2020), the revenue c o l l e c t e d b y J a p a n C u s t o m s i s
￥9.2trillion, which is nearly equivalent to 14.9% of the total national ta x revenue.
Japa n Customs is st r iv i ng to collect duties and taxes appropriately and fairly as a national tax collecting agency.
F u r t h e r m o r e , i n t e r n a t i o n a l d i s t r i b ut i o n h a s b e c o m e f u r t h e r
sophisticated and diversified in recent years a nd it is a not her impor ta nt mission for customs to ensure security and facilitation of trade at the same time. In order to meet this difficult challenge, Japan Customs, following the SAFE Framework of Standards to secure and facilitate global trade of World Customs Organization（WCO）
and in cooperation with other countries, h a s develop e d pa r t ner sh ip s w it h private companies and implemented the Authorized Economic Operator（AEO）
program.
Under the AEO program, Japan custom s approve s operator s w it h excellent compliance and grants them benefits such as simplified customs procedures.
Japan Customs has realized the advanced customs clearance system with state-of-the-art IT technologies as an infrastructure to support various customs activities. Japan Customs ha s a lso worked on resea rch a nd development of new equipment and focused on training customs officials to develop them into talents who can fulfill domestic and foreign demands of the new era.
The Customs and Tariff Bureau, as an authority responsible for customs leg islat ion a nd ad m i n ist rat ion, is contributing to international trade negotiations.
Japan has promotes strategically and expeditiously the economic partnership negotiations ("Follow up on the Growth Strategy"(Cabinet Decision on June 21th,2019). Based on this policy, the Customs and Tariff Bureau, together wit h ot her releva nt m i n ist ries, is negotiating with various countries to conclude EPAs and is strengthening a
multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization（WTO）.
At the same time, the Customs and Tariff Bureau is actively participating in and promoting the measures led by the WCO to further harmonize and standardize the customs procedures and to promote international cooperation between foreign customs.
Japan Customs will celebrate the 150th anniversary in November 2022 since “Unjosyo” was renamed to the
“Zeikan” and the Customs was officially established.
With the dawn of a new era, Japan Customs is aiming for being the most advanced Customs in the world with by medium-to long-term vision of customs ad m i n ist rat ion " SM A RT Customs Initiative 2020",which is meet the expectations of the public 20–30 years from now.
Japan Customs will further enhance customs capacity building activities, which have been carried out for a long time, mainly in Asian countries.
In order to respond to changes i n d o m e s t i c a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l s o c i o e c o n o m i c s i t u a t i o n s w h i l e reflecting various stakeholders’views as much as possible, the Customs and Tariff Bureau and Japan Customs are committed to making utmost efforts to accomplish its missions by further enhancing cooperation with other gover n ment agencies a nd foreig n customs authorities.
June 2022
Customs and Tariff Bureau Ministry of Finance, Japan
The seizure number of gold smuggling was 5 / the seizure amount was approx. 27 kg
In 2021, the total seizure number of illicit drugs*1 showed an increase to 833 (up 12% YOY), while the total seizure amount*2,3 showed a decrease to approx. 1,138kg (down 41% YOY). The total seizure amount of illicit drugs exceeded one ton in six consecutive years, which showed a very serious situation.
The total seizure amount of MDMA tablet was approx. 127,000 (up 42% YOY) and the total seizure amount of MDMA of other shapes was approx. 27kg (up to 16.2 times YOY), both of which increased.
The total seizure amount of cannabis resin, etc. (including cannabis products such as cannabis liquid, etc.) showed a sharp increase to approx. 132kg (up 72% YOY).
The seizure number of gold* smuggling was 5 (down 90% YOY), and the seizure amount was approx. 27 kg (down 82% YOY), both of which decreased.
After the upper limits of penalties were raised in April 2018, both the number and the amount of seizure decreased significantly.
On the other hand, shrewd methods of concealment have been reported, and the price of gold has remained high. Therefore, Japan Customs continue to actively implement strict control.
*1: The term "Illicit drugs" refers to methamphetamine, cannabis, opium, narcotics (cocaine, heroin, MDMA, etc.), psychotropic substances and designated substances.
*2: Tablet-shaped illicit drugs are not included.
*3: Only fixed amount of each seizure case is added to the total amount. The same applies hereinafter.
*: The term “gold” includes gold bullion and other processed gold products.
‐ The total seizure amount of illicit drugs exceeded one ton in six consecutive years. ‐
‐ The total seizure amount of MDMA and cannabis resin, etc.
（including cannabis liquid） increased ‐
Japan Customs seized large amount of Illicit drugs were concealed in commercial cargoes and international mail.
Detected shrewd methods of concealment
｜In April 2021, Yokohama Customs｜
Approx. 297kg of methamphetamine was detected from sea cargo, laser cutting machine, arriving from Hong Kong.
Case 1 〉〉 Sea Cargo
A c o n s i d e r a b l e a m o u n t o f methamphetamine was detected from sea cargo, charcoals, arriving from Turkey.
｜In November 2021, Tokyo Customs｜
Case 2 〉〉 Sea Cargo
｜In June 2021, Osaka Customs｜
Approx. 8.7kg of methamphetamine and approx. 430g of cannabis were detected from air cargo and international mail, water purifier and tea bags, etc., arriving from Canada, etc.
Case 3 〉〉 Air Cargo and International Mail
Approx. 7.9kg of cannabis liquid was detected from air cargo, cans of oil, arriving from the United States of America.
｜In May 2021, Nagoya Customs etc.｜
Case 4 〉〉 Air Cargo
｜In April 2021, Yokohama Customs｜
Approx. 15,000 pills of MDMA were detected from international mail arriving from Germany.
Case 6 〉〉
Approx. 4,000 pills of MDMA were detected from international mail, expander, arriving from France.
｜In February 2021, Tokyo Customs｜
Case 5 〉〉 International Mail
Case 〉〉
Concealed in tangsten bars
1 Case 2 〉〉
Concealed in IC chips Approx. 10kg of gold was detected from air cargo (IC chips) arriving from China.
Approx. 30kg of gold was detected f rom a i r c a rgo (t a ng sten ba r s) arriving from Hong Kong.
International Mail
Mission of Japan Customs
Goal: Customs at the Leading Edge of the World
Japan Customs aims to be a leading agency of the world to realize sound development of trade and a safe and secure society.
1 2 2 3 3
Three Missions of Japan Customs
Further facilitating trade procedures
To further facilitate customs procedures while ensuring security in international distribution
Maintain and strengthen the multilateral trading system through trade negotiations like EPAs （Economic Partnership Agreements）, and contribute to economic growth in Japan.
Realizing a safe and secure society
Realizing the safest country in the world by prioritizing prevention of smuggling of firearms, illicit drugs and other harmful goods and curtailing terrorist activities in the country
Collecting customs duties and domestic consumption taxes appropriately and fairly
Collecting customs duties and domestic consumption taxes appropriately and fairly as a tax collecting agency accumulating about ¥9.1 trillion, which is nearly equivalent to 14.1% of the total national tax revenue
Promoting trade negotiations
Realizing Customs three missions through trade negotiations like EPAs, which deal simplification and harmonization of Customs procedures, Customs cooperation and information exchange.
Improving quality of customs operation by enhancing partnership with foreign customs authorities through customs mutual assistance agreements
Realizing further simplified and efficient import/export procedures and better services for traders by applying advanced ICT for customs clearance systems
Advancing international trade facilitation by b u i l d i n g p a r t n e r s h i p s w i t h p r i v a t e enterprises
Strict enforcement across the government as a whole in close cooperation and information exchange with relevant government agencies Researching and studying leading-edge technologies to detect illicit drugs with high accuracy while installing more effective i n s p e c t i o n e q u i p m e n t w i t h e x i s t i n g technologies
大蔵省伺
Japan Customs 150th Anniversary HP
On November 28, 2022, Japan Customs will celebrate the 150th anniversary since its official establishment on November 28, 1872, when it was renamed from its predecessor, Unjosho.
Succeeding the significance, and the role it has played so far, Japan Customs will continue to contribute to the realization of a safer and more affluent society and further trade facilitation, and work for the happy future of the Japanese people and the prosperity of the nation.
従前開港場各港運上所ノ
儀ハ称呼区々或ハ税関或
ハ運上所ト唱ヘ不致一定
不都合ニ付今後各港共何
港税関ト称呼候様相達可
申ト存候此段奉伺候也
壬申十一月廿七日
正 五 位
澁澤榮一
大蔵大輔井上馨
伺之通
十一月廿八日 正院御中
With the opening of Japan to the world at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate,
“Unjosho”, the predecessor of Japan Customs, was established in Hakodate,
Kanagawa, Nagasaki, Edo (Tokyo), Hyogo (Kobe), Kawaguchi (Osaka), and Niigata.
On November 28, 1872, the Japanese government decided to rename Unjosho to Customs.
Japan Customs has designated November 28 of each year as “Japan Customs Anniversary”.
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The origin of Japan Customs
Japan Customs 150th Anniversary Video
（Youtube）
J A C U
P A S T
N
O M S
A N N I V E R S A R Y 150 th
Customs Clearance
Seaport Management Cargo inspection Customs clearance for traveler's baggage
Aim to ensure more appropriate and prompter customs clearance by providing solutions to improve
compliance and convenience in customs procedures for trade-related businesses, travelers, and others.
M ultiple- A ccess
Aim to expand and strengthen information-sharing with relevant
agencies and traderelated businesses to further implement
both facilitating trade and strengthened border
control.
Aim to maintain and develop customs administration while
ensuring the convenience of customs procedures in preparation for changes in social structures and disaster
risks.
T echnology & Talent
Actively incorporate AI and other cutting-edge technologies into our customs operations and aim to enhance operations by finding new ways to make customs procedures
convenient and to implement more effective, efficient, and sophisticated enforcement.
Alongside the use of cuttingedge technologies, we aim to train personnel, review our operations,
and improve the work environment.
S olution
R esilience
SMART
take initials from four keywords「SMART」
u n d e r t h e f o l l o w i n g f o u r k e y w o r d s
ス マ ー ト 税 関 構 想 ２ ０ ２ ０
m e d i u m - t o
l o n g - t e r m v i s i o n of c u s t o m s a d m i n i s t r a t i o n
S M A R T
C u s t o m s I n i t i a t i v e 2 0 2 0
V ISION
Japan Customs HP movie image
