26-Apr-2016

European cosmetics companies have applauded the decision by the Japanese government to abolish (since 1 January) import notifications on cosmetics and quasi-drugs as “great progress”.

The changes, announced by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, followed many years of pressure for change, notably by the European Business Council in Japan (EBC), whose member companies say the new rules will “significantly simplify import procedures”.

They warn, however, that a number of important hurdles remain to be overcome for foreign manufacturers to fully access Japan’s lucrative market.

Before the changes, foreign cosmetics companies seeking to import their products into Japan were required to submit two different notifications to Japanese regulators, with a great deal of duplicate information in the two sets of paperwork, said Tsutae Kogure, of LVMH Cosmetics in Japan, a member company of the EBC’s cosmetics and quasi-drugs committee.

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