Toys & children's products × The Japanese buyer / distributor imports

Rules verified as of 2026-08-08 · reviewed quarterly (next review: November 2026)

Typical products: Toys for small children, kids' tableware, baby goods

Toys intended for children under 6 are regulated under the Food Sanitation Act (designated toys). The Dec 2025 PSC amendment adds child-product categories. Electronic toys add PSE/Giteki as applicable.

Which regimes apply

Food Sanitation Act import notification (食品衛生法)

Food, drinks and supplements — AND food-contact utensils, containers and packaging, and toys for infants — require an import notification (食品等輸入届出) to the quarantine station BEFORE customs clearance. Synthetic-resin food-contact items must comply with the positive list. The notifier must be an importer in Japan.

File 食品等輸入届出 with the quarantine station before clearance (electronic: NACCS)
Prepare composition/material documentation; resin items: positive-list compliance
Expect document review and possible inspection orders on first import

Sources: MHLW — import monitoring

PSC — Consumer Product Safety Act (消費生活用製品安全法)

Products with specific hazards are 特定製品 (e.g. pressure cookers, motorcycle helmets, climbing ropes, disposable lighters, laser pointers, and from Dec 2025 more children's products). The importer must notify its business, verify conformity and affix the PSC mark; 特別特定製品 additionally require third-party conformity assessment.

Business notification to METI
Conformity with technical standards (third-party assessment for 特別特定製品)
PSC mark before sale

Sources: METI — product safety (PSC)

Customs: duty, consumption tax and the importer of record

Every commercial import needs an importer of record with post-release disposal authority, correct HS classification, duty and 10% consumption tax. A non-resident importer files through an Attorney for Customs Procedures (ACP, 税関事務管理人) and needs a tax agent for JCT recovery.

Classify the product (HS code) and check the duty rate
Convert values with the official customs FX rate
Non-residents: appoint ACP (form C-7500) before the first declaration

Sources: Customs Answer 9601 — ACP

→ Tools: tariff finder & landed-cost calculator · customs FX rates · Guides: IOR, ACP

Who can be the importer — verdict

Your Japanese buyer is the importer of record and carries the product-regime duties (notifications, marks, records). Your job as the seller is to supply the documentation that lets them comply: technical files, certificates, materials lists, test reports. Price accordingly (usually FOB/CIF, not DDP).

Your checklist

Agree Incoterms where the buyer clears customs (FOB/CIF, not DDP)
Deliver the compliance documentation pack for the regimes above
Confirm the buyer's notifications/licenses exist before shipping
[Food Sanitation Act import notification (食品衛生法)] File 食品等輸入届出 with the quarantine station before clearance (electronic: NACCS)
[Food Sanitation Act import notification (食品衛生法)] Prepare composition/material documentation; resin items: positive-list compliance
[Food Sanitation Act import notification (食品衛生法)] Expect document review and possible inspection orders on first import
[PSC] Business notification to METI
[PSC] Conformity with technical standards (third-party assessment for 特別特定製品)
[PSC] PSC mark before sale
[Customs: duty, consumption tax and the importer of record] Classify the product (HS code) and check the duty rate
[Customs: duty, consumption tax and the importer of record] Convert values with the official customs FX rate
[Customs: duty, consumption tax and the importer of record] Non-residents: appoint ACP (form C-7500) before the first declaration