Section 1: General Remarks
Plants may be required to undergo quarantine in accordance with the Plant Protection Law. In addition, the government may not approve the export of certain seeds and seedlings in accordance with the Forestry Seeds and Seedlings Act (Article 25, Paragraph 2). In addition, there are cases where CITES-related plants cannot be exported without approval based on the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Law, and there are plants that cannot be basically exported based on the Seeds Conservation Law (see below), so care must be taken.
Section 2: Plant Protection Law
The Plant Protection Law requires quarantine for the export of certain plants, injurious plants and injurious animals.
The plants subject to quarantine are those belonging to flowering plants, pteridophytes, and helophytes. The term “injurious plants” refers to fungi, mucus, bacteria, parasitic plants, viruses, etc. that are harmful to useful plants. The term “pest animals” refers to mites and other organisms that harm useful plants.
In the event that an importing country intends to export “plants and their containers and packages” that require inspection certification by the exporting country for importation, it is necessary to apply for an export inspection review of such “plants and their containers and packages” and then pass an inspection by a plant protection officer to ensure that they conform to the requirements of the importing country (Article 10). Electronic application for export inspection is also possible.
Customs requires a “Seal of Acceptance”, a “Certificate of Acceptance for Plant Inspection”, or a copy thereof.
Section 3: Forestry Seeds and Seedlings Act
In the case of exporting cedar, hinoki, red pine, black pine, Japanese larch, Japanese white pine, Japanese ezo pine, Japanese white pine, and Japanese yellow pine, the government may restrict the export in order to secure good quality seeds and seedlings (Article 25(2) of the Act, Article 1 of the Order).
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