Law concerning Control of Export Commodities

(Object of the Law) Article 1. The object of the present Law is, aiming at the sound development of Japan's export trade, to enhance good reputation and improve quality of export commdities.

(Definition of Export Commodities) Article 2. Export commodities, as defined in this Law, shall mean goods for which application for export has been made.

(Grades, Specifications, Standards and Requirements for Export Commodities) Article 3. The competent Minister shall establish for labeling purposes grades and specifications for each commodity to be designated by him from among the export commodities as defined in the preceding Article.

Article 4. The competent Minister shall establish export packing requirements and minimum quality standards regarding health, sanitation, safety and adulteration: Tea Canned and processed foods Pharmaceuticals Reagents Matches Optical equipment, such as binocular, microscopes and surveying instruments Light bulbs

(Procedural Matters of Establishment of Standards and Requirements) Article 5. The labeling and minimum export standards established in accordance with Articles 3 and 4 shall be developed in accordance with procedures which allow all interested parties to be heard and which shall be provided for by Ordinance. These standards are subject to the approval of the Director General of the Economic Stabilization Board and shall be published through Ordinance of the competent Minister in the Official Gazette not later than thirty days before going into effect. The standards so established shall be fair and equitable, shall be based on reasonable classification of commodities and shall not discriminate between similarly situated manufacturers or classes of manufacturers in the same industry, or between industries.

(Inspection) Article 6. Export commodities as defined in Article 2 and for which labeling standards have been established as provided for in Article 3 shall be properly labeled in accordance with standards established under this law. The competent Minister shall be responsible for the enforcement of this Law and may perform such inspections as deemed necessary for the enforcement of this Law.

Article 7. Export commodities as enumerated in Article 4 shall be properly packaged and labeled in accordance with standards established under this Law and meet such minimum export srandards established in accordance with Article 4. The competent Minister shall be responsible for the enforcement of this Law and may perform such inspections as deemed necessary for the enforcement of this Law.

(Seals and Others) Article 8. It is prohibited without due reasons to erase, remove or conceal the seals, marks or labels attached by inspection organ to the commodities in compliance with procedural Ordinance as provided in Articles 6 and 7. The export commodities with the seals, marks or labels erased, removed or concealed shall not be exported or transferred to the Government for export.

(Parchase by State Organ and Others) Article 9. in case export goods subject to inspection as to labeling standards established in accordance with Article 3 and inspected in accordance with Article 6 of this Law fail to pass the inspection, the goods must be relabeled correctly. If the original purchaser refuses acceptance of the relabeled goods and if the goods are not sold to another export purchaser, within 90 days from their rejection in the case of non-perishable goods and immediately after their rejection in the case of perishable goods, the competent Minister shall authorize an appropriate government agency to purchase such goods at prices to be fixed by the Price Board (Bukkacho), if the goods were manufactured or processed from materials allocated in accordance with the Temporary Demand and Supply Adjustment Law (Law No.32 of 1946). In case export goods subject to inspection as to minimum export standards established in accordance with Article 4 and inspected in accordance with Article 7 of this Law fail to pass the inspection, the competent Minister shall authorize an appropriate government agency to purchase such goods at prices to be fixed by the Price Board (Bukkacho) if the goods were manufactured or processed from materials allocated in accordance with the Temporary Demand and Supply Adjustment Law. The goods referred to in the two preceding paragraphs, except for perishables which must be disposed of immediately, shall remain in custody of the competent Minister until the government agency purchases them, but in no case longer than thirty days. In the event that the right to purchase goods is not exercised by an agency of the Government, such goods shall be released through normal trade channels. The competent Minister shall establish, by Ordinance, subject to the approval of the Director General of the Economic Stabilization Board, procedural ruler relating to the disposition of rejected goods.

(Public Hearing) Article 10. Any manufacturer or other interested party who is dissatisfactory to the labeling or minimum export standards established in accordance with Article 3 or 4, or decisions made under Article 6 or 7, or such purchases of commodities as provided in the preceding Article, may demand a public hearing from the competent Minister. The competent Minister, in the case of receiving the above demand, shall schedule a public hearing and examine the reason of the dissatifaction, and shall take appropriate measures if it is established in that proceedings that the standards established under Article 3 or 4 are violative of the principles stated in Article 5 or that the decisions made under Articles 6 and 7, or purchases of commodities as are provided in preceding Article are inappropriate.

Article 11. The term "hearing" as applied in this Law shall mean a proceeding for the purpose of examining into complaints made under the preceding Article, aiming at the fair and equitable administration of this Law. The competent Minister shall have the power to subpoena persons (duces tecum), papers, documents and materials necessary for the hearing. All hearings shall be public and shall be conducted impartially and expeditiously for the purpose of arriving at the truth. The persons demanding a hearing shall have the right to present all relevant evidence in the form of oral testimony of witnesses and written documents and shall be provided with full opportunity to examine any such evidence and to be confronted by and to question witnesses offered against them. They shall also have the right to demand the assistance of the competent Minister in summoning necessary witnesses on their behalf. All parties may be represented by counsel of their own choosing and shall be entitled to postponements for good cause, including adequate time in which to prepare their case. The competent Minister shall furnish complete record of the oral testimony of witnesses and of all proceedings of the hearings.

(Penalty) Article 12. Any person who violated the provisions of Articles 6, 7 or 8 of this Law shall be punished with imprisonment for not more than 3 years or fined not more than 30,000 yen.

Article 13. Any person who intentionally fails or refuses to make manifestation of contents or who makes false manifestation of contents, as to export commodities under Articles 3 and 4, shall be punished with imprisonment for not more than 6 months or fined not more than 5,000 yen.

Article 14. Any person who intentionally erases, removes or conceals, the seals, marks, or labels in contravention of the provisions of Article 8 shall be punished with imprinsonment for not more than 6 months or fined not more than 5,000 yen.

Article 15. Any person who intentionally or through gross negligence manufacturs, fabricates or processes any export commodities as enumerated in Article 4 from allocated materials provided for export production in violation of the standards established under Article 4 shall be punished with imprisonment for not more than 3 years or fined not more than 30,000 yen or both.

Article 16. Any person who fails to comply with the terms of a subpoena order in contravention of provisions of Article 11 shall be fined not more than 5,000 yen.

Article 17. In case a representative of a juridical person, employee or other agent of a juridical or natural person commits a violation under Articles 12 to 16 inclusive, the penalties are to be imposed not only upon the performer but a fine stipulated in the respective Articles is to be imposed upon the juridical or the natural person in question.

Supplementary Provisions:

Article 18. The date of enforcement of the present Law shall be 90 days after passage of this Law by the Diet.

Article 19. The Export Silk Fabrics Control Law, the Export Aquatic Products Control Law, the Staple Export Commodities Control Law, and the Export Woolen Fabrics Control Law are repealed, effective thirty days after the date of enforcement of this Law.

Article 20. Export silk fabrics, woolen fabrics export aquatic products, and staple export commodities which have passed, prior to the enforcement of the present Law, the inspection stipulated in Article 1 of the Export Silk Fabrics Control Law;in Paragraph 1 of Article 1 of the Export Aquatic Products Control Law;in Article 2 of the Staple Export Commodities Control Law;in Article 1 of the Export Woolen Fabrics Control Law;or in any other applicable legislation, may be exported or transferred to the Government regardless of the provisions of Article 6 or 7.

Article 21. Such acts subject, prior to the repeal of old Laws, to respective penal regulations of the Export Silk Fabrics Control Law, the Export Woolen Fabrics Control Law, the Staple Export Commodities Control Law and the Export Aquatic Products Control Law shall be still subject to the same Laws.

Article 22. So far as the application of the present Law is concerned, any transfer of export commodities from any of Honshu, Hokkaido, Shikoku, Kyushu and their dependent islands (excluding the area defined by Ordinance) to any areas other than those enumerated above shall be treated as export.