. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/JPN/289/Add.1 
24 June 2009  
 (09-3100) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION  
 
Addendum
 
  
 The following communication, dated 22 June 2009,  is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Japan
.  
 
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 Draft Proposals of Ministerial Enforcement and Ministerial Ordinance of Law for Keeping 
Transaction Record and Relaying Place of Or igin Information of Rice and Rice Products  
 Background: The Japanese Government notified the proposal of Law for Keeping Transaction Record 
and Relaying Place of Origin Information of Rice a nd Rice Products (hereinafter referred to as “the 
Law”) in document G/TBT/N/JPN/289 (dated 22 December 2008). The purpose of the Law is to  
prevent distribution of rice and rice products (hereina fter referred to as “covered products”) that do 
not meet the safety standard and to ensure prope r labelling and thereby to secure proper and smooth 
distribution of those products as well as to promot e providing information about place of origin of 
covered products. The law was enac ted on 24 April 2009. The main points of the law are as follows; 
1.  Traceability (keeping transaction records of covered products) 
All business entities that deal with the covered produ cts shall keep transaction records such as product 
name, quantity, date, name of buyer/ seller and place of shipment/arrival. 
2.  Relaying place of origin information of rice ingredients of covered products 
Dealers who sell/serve covered products to other d ealers or general consum ers shall provide them 
with place of origin information of rice ingredients of covered products. 
 
This proposal: In addition to G/TBT/N/JPN/289, the Japanese Government hereby notifies the 
proposals of Ministerial Enforcement and Minister ial Ordinance of the Law. The contents are as 
follows;  A.     A DRAFT PROPOSAL OF THE MINISTERIAL ENFORCEMENT 
1.  Products to be covered by the rice traceability are as follows: 
(a)  rice;   (b)  rice flour, preparations of rice flour, rice-koji, groats and meal of rice, dough for rice products;  (c) pre-cooked rice products (e.g., boxed meal, rice ball, prepared steamed rice (including frozen 
food), packaged steamed rice, dried steamed rice); 
(d) other rice products that contain raw materials such  as rice and rice flour as a main ingredient (e.g., 
rice cake (mochi), rice dumpling (dango), rice cracker, rice vinegar, sake); (e)  bakery/noodle/confectionery products with prin ted claims on their package/container stating that 
they contain rice or rice flour as an ingredient that characterizes the products.  G/TBT/N/JPN/289/Add.1 
Page 2  
 
  2.  Products to be covered by the system for relaying place of origin information of rice ingredients 
are same products as listed in paragraph 1 except those used for non-food pur poses such as for feed 
and bio-ethanol.  B.     A DRAFT PROPOSAL OF THE MINISTERIAL ORDINANCE 
1.  Details of record keeping are as follows: 
(a)  Transaction records need to be kept either on paper or in electronic format. 
(b)  Record items to be kept are: - product name - place of origin of rice/rice ingredient 
- To be recorded as “kokunaisan” or ”kokusan” (domestically produced) for a domestic rice/rice 
ingredient, and to be recorded by the name of country for an imported rice/rice ingredient.  -  In principle, place of origin of the rice ingredie nt is to be recorded even for products processed 
abroad. However, country of origin of a final pro cessed product may be recorded instead if the place 
of origin of the rice ingredient of the imported processed product is unknown. 
- quantity 
- date  - name of buyer/seller - place of shipment/arrival - end-use specification of rice, if any.  
2.  Transaction record shall be kept for three y ears from the date of the transaction except as provided 
below: (a)  for products with the use-by date, the record  shall be kept for six months from the date of 
transaction; and (b)  for products with the best-before date which is more than three years later than the date of 
transaction, the record shall be kept for five years from the date of transaction. 
 3.  The methods for relaying place of origin information are as follows; (a) In the case of transactions between business entiti es prior to the final sale to consumers, provide 
place of origin information of rice/rice ingredie nts by showing it in a prominent place on the 
package/container or in the invoice or sending it to the purchasers by fax, e-mail or other ways. 
(b) In the case of sale/serving to general consumers, provide place of origin information of rice/rice 
ingredients by showing it in a prominent place on the package/container or on the menu or displaying it in a prominent place in the store. (c) The place of origin information of rice/rice ingred ients shall be deemed to have been provided to 
general consumers as long as it is available on a website, can be obtained through inquiries over the 
phone or on-site oral explanation by the store cler ks instead of providing the information through the 
methods listed in (b).  Proposed date of adoption: To be determined Proposed date of entry into force: Not later than  24 October 2010 (Rice traceability), not later than  
24 October 2011 (Relaying place of origin information of rice/rice ingredients) 
 
Final date for comments:  20 August 2009 
Agency responsible: Ministry of Agricu lture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) 
Text available from:  National Enquiry Point [X],  or address, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and 
web-site addresses, if available of other body: Na tional Enquiry Point of Japan: Standards Information 
Service, International Trade Division, Economic Affa irs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 2-2-1 
Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8919; Tel:  +(81 3) 5501 8344;  Fax:  +(81 3) 5501 8343;   E-mail:  enquiry@mofa.go.jp  
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