## 3 ) Food Items, etc

- Best-before dates for foods are determined by industry organizations, but the periods set are shorter than those in other countries, even for the same products of the same quality, production method and test results. (For example, the best-before date for yogurt in Europe is 39th day after production, but that in Japan is 27th.) Japan should correct this situation while gaining the understanding of consumers and improve the efficiency of the food supply chain.

• Foods containing additives whose safety has been recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) or the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) may not be approved under the Japanese standards. Such regulations should be harmonized with international standards.

## 4 ) Energy

- Japan should determine numerical targets and time frames related to the nation’s energy mix in the Basic Energy Plan at an early date. In doing so, the country should set transparent and sustainable numerical values which help investment decisions.

- The environmental impact assessment for wind-power generation projects currently takes 3 to 4 years in Japan. It should be reduced to approximately 18 months as in other countries.

## 5 ) Tourism and Hotels

- Japan should develop foreign-tourist-friendly infrastructures, through multilingual traffic signals or multilingual labeling of various devices and systems, etc.

- The country should increase the number of Wi-Fi access points and allow international roaming of overseas cellphones.

- In Okinawa, which is expected to be designated as a National Strategic Special Zone, Japan should loosen regulations to enhance entertainment facilities and attractions, including casinos, and to promote the development and improvement of tourism resources where tourists can also enjoy entertainment during the night.

## 6 ) Retail sales

- In selling products in Japan, foreign companies are sometimes required to label them according to Japan’s unique standards. There are also regulations unique to Japan with respect to safety and other product attributes. These labeling and safety standards should be harmonized with those of other countries. Since certification-related processes are complicated and time-consuming, they should be simplified mainly by promoting mutual certification with other countries.

- If newcomers attempt to purchase land for large retail stores, there are restrictions on changes of land use categories, and in addition, even if they can purchase land, it takes a long time before they obtain approval for such purchase. Japan should relax regulations in order to facilitate land acquisitions and improve the way regulations are applied.

## (5) Support and Preferential Measures for Foreign Direct Investment in Japan

With regards to support and preferential measures for foreign direct investments to Japan provided by the government, JETRO or local governments, the following comments were made.

- Japan should not limit the targets of preferential measures under the Subsidy Program for Projects Promoting Foreign Direct Investment, Site Location and Regional Development in Japan (Project of site location for global companies), to regional supervision bases and