WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/TF/W/53 
15 July 2005 
 (05-3151) 
Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation Original:   English 
  
COMMUNICATION FROM JAPAN 
  
 The following communication, dated 13 July 2005, from the Delegation of Japan, is being 
circulated in advance of the Negotiating Group meeting of 25-26 July.  
_______________ 
 
 
EXPLANATORY NOTE ON PRE-ARRIVAL EXAMINATION –  
JAPAN'S EXPERIENCE 
 
 
I. INTRODUCTION 
1. This paper aims to elaborate on the idea of pre-arrival documentary examination in trade 
procedures as proposed in TN/TF/W/17, and to sh are the experience of Japan with this regime, 
focusing on the area of customs procedures.   
2. Pre-arrival documentary examination furthe r expedites the release of cargoes through 
documentary examination prior to cargo arrivals, while reserving the right of the authorities to 
conduct further examinations where necessary, and ma intaining appropriate border control with the 
use of the risk management concept.  The pre-arri val examination regime has been in existence in a 
number of developed and de veloping countries, indicating that th is regime has been well recognized 
as an effective measure for trade facilitation.  
3. We hope that this submission will contribute to  deepening the understanding of pre-arrival 
documentary examination among Members.  We also  hope Members recognize that this regime can 
be applied not only to customs, but also to other trade procedures required by governments. 
II. OUTLINE OF PRE-ARRIVAL EXAMINATION 
4. Generally, importers are required to submit an  import declaration to customs after cargoes 
arrive from foreign countries and, subsequently, customs conduct documentary and/or physical 
inspections of the declared cargo, if necessary.  Ther efore, in principle, importers are unable to begin 
import procedures prior to the arrival of cargoes. 
5. The pre-arrival examination regime was estab lished to manage these general requirements 
with certain flexibility in order to facilitate the m ovement of goods.  Pre-arrival examination allows 
importers to submit pre-arrival impor t declarations before the arriva l of cargoes so that customs can 
conduct documentary examination in advance.  If it  does not impede the pursuance of the legitimate 
policy objective under this regime, customs will notify traders before the arrival of cargo whether or 
not further documentary examinations and/or physical  inspections are required and, if not, customs 
will then issue an import permit immediately after the formal import declaration is presented upon 
arrival of the cargoes.   TN/TF/W/53 
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 6. This regime provides the following benefits: 
• Documentary examination will be conducted  before the arrival of cargoes;  
• Traders will be notified whether documentary ex aminations and/or physical inspections are 
required or not before the arrival of cargoes;  
• Customs will issue an import permit immediately after the formal import declaration is 
presented upon arrival of cargoes, if further documentary examinations or physical inspections are not required.  
 
7. The benefits of this regime have been wi dely recognized in relevant international 
organizations.  For example, the General Annex Chapter 3 of the WCO Revised Kyoto Convention 
requires customs to introduce a pre-arrival examination as follows: 
Standard 25
 
 
"National legislation shall make provision for th e lodging and registering or checking of the 
Goods declaration and supporting documents prior to the arrival of the goods."  
 
III. JAPAN'S EXPERIENCE IN THE AREA OF CUSTOMS 
8. Responding to the needs of effectively coping with the increasing volume of trade with 
limited human and financial resources, and to the re quest from the private sector to further expedite 
the movement of goods, Japan, in the area of cust oms procedures for example, introduced pre-arrival 
examination in 1991.  This regime has become one  of the major trade facilitation measures in Japan 
while maintaining adequate customs control and has b een widely used by trader s.  In 2004, the usage 
rates of pre-arrival examination in Japan were 28.0% and 54.8% for sea cargoes and for air cargoes, 
respectively. In addition, the regime of pre-arrival examination is being used in other trade procedures 
such as food sanitation. 
9. A brief explanation of the pre-arrival exam ination in Japan Customs is as follows. 
A. T YPE OF CARGOES COVERED  
10. The pre-arrival examination can be applied to all types of imported cargo.  The cargoes which 
benefit most from the use of the pre-arrival exam ination are those in need of quick processing, 
specifically: 
• those requiring speedy clearance due to the nature of the goods, such as fresh foods;   
• those under strict delivery terms;   
• those with a limited selling market with a par ticular seasonal demand, such as Christmas and 
New Year's;   
• those requiring an extensive examination of th e import declaration, such as with numerous 
kinds of cargoes in one declaration;   
• those of which the required documents are available in advance;   
• those requiring long-distance sea transport.  
 
B. DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED  
11. In order to use the pre-arrival examination, im porters need to submit a pre-arrival declaration 
to customs, using the same form as a general import declaration form.  TN/TF/W/53 
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 12. Documents to be attached to a pre-arrival decl aration are the same as the documents attached 
to a general import declaration, unless the Director-General of customs decides some of them are 
unnecessary at the time of the pre-arrival declarati on.  The items to be entered in a pre-arrival 
declaration form are the same as the items to be  filled in the import declaration form, unless the 
Director-General of customs decides some of th em are unnecessary at the time of the pre-arrival 
declaration.1   
C. TIMING OF SUBMISSION  
13. Importers can submit a pre-arrival declaration at any time after the Bill of Lading (Airway 
Bill in the case of air cargo) related to the declared ca rgo is issued, and after the foreign exchange rate 
for the scheduled date of im port declaration is announced.2 
D. DOCUMENTARY EXAMINATION  
14. Customs conduct the same documentary examina tion for a pre-arrival declaration as for a 
normal import declaration.  To fully benefit from th e pre-arrival examination, the examination should 
be, in principle, completed by the import declar ation scheduled date.  The importer should make 
revisions each time changes occur in the declared da ta, such as foreign exchange rates or the volume 
of cargoes, etc.   
E. PHYSICAL INSPECTION  
15. After the documentary examination, the necessity of a physical inspection will be notified to 
the importer prior to the scheduled date of the import declaration, if such a notification will not impede the legitimate policy objective.  In add ition, should the necessity arise for a physical 
inspection of the cargo after the notification,  the prior notification may be changed. 
F. I
MPORT DECLARATION  
16. When the cargo arrives and all requirements are met for the import declaration under the 
Customs Law, such as the completion of pro cedures required under other laws and regulations, 
importers inform customs of their intention for a formal import declaration, together with all the 
necessary items or documents with a deferred submissi on at the time of the pre-arrival declaration.  
Then customs treat the pre-arrival declaration as a formal import declaration, after confirmation, and 
provide immediately an import permit as long as physical examination is not required. 
IV. THE MERIT OF PRE-ARRIVAL EXAMINATION 
17. The availability of pre-arrival examination is of key importance to all traders since it does not 
only provide predictability as to how long the customs clearance would be, but also greatly 
contributes to expediting the movement of goods.  According to the 7th Time Release Survey 
conducted by the Ministry of Finance in Japan in  2004, the average time required for the release of 
goods with the use of this regime was 51.3 hours (i n case of sea cargoes), 30% less than the time 
without the use of this regime (See Annex).3   
                                                      
1 The dutiable price and tax amount are computed with the foreign exchange rate to be applied on the 
import declaration schedule date.  
2 Current exchange rates against the U. S. dollar, the Sterling Pound and other major foreign currencies 
are normally announced around Wednesday of the previous week.  As soon as the documents to be submitted 
and items to be declared are ready, th e pre-arrival declaration can be made as  early as 10 days before the arrival 
of the cargo. 
3 Time Release Surveys are implemented based on sampling conducted over 1 week with cooperation 
from trade-related agencies.  The surv ey targets the time required from arriva l of cargoes to the release of goods 
including carrying-in to bonded areas, import declaration to customs and import permission.  TN/TF/W/53 
Page 4  
 
 V. IMPLEMENTATION COST OF PRE-ARRIVAL EXAMINATION 
18. The significance of introducing the pre-arrival ex amination regime is merely to change the 
timing of the import declaration submission.  Th erefore, the implementation of the pre-arrival 
examination regime does not necessarily require IT in frastructure although the use of IT can improve 
the efficiency of the operation of the pre-arrival examination.
4  In the case of Japan Customs, pre-
arrival examination is operated on both a manual and IT basis.   
19. Therefore, we believe that this measure can be implemented by using the existing facilities and 
resources of each Member with minimum costs for legislation and training of officials, and we recognize 
that the benefit of introducing this measure far outweighs the cost of introduction.  Furthermore, Japan has 
been providing technical assistance in the area of customs procedures, including pre-arrival examination, 
to developing-country officials on our own initiative. 
                                                      
4 According to the "Customs Modernization Handbook" (Luc De Wulf/ Jose B. Sokol, The World 
Bank, 2004, P97), Sri Lanka was succes sful in introducing pre-arrival sc reening and clearance for air express 
consignments prior to the availability of its automated systems.   
  TN/TF/W/53
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__________ 
 ANNEX  
Import Lead Time Reduction by Pre-Arrival Examination  
(Hours) 
25.4 42.6 5.127.4 21.9 2.0
0 20 40 60 80With pre-arrival 
examination 
Without pre-arrival 
examination 
Port entry  →     →  Carrying-in  →     →  Declaration →     →  Permit  [Import lead time reduction by p re-arrival examination (sea cargo)] 
(Hours) 
(Source) 7th Time Releas e Survey, March 2004 (MOF)With pre-arrival examination:            51.3 hours 
Without pre-arrival examinati on:       73.1 hours 
Pre-Arrival Examination   -> 30 % reduction in import lead time