Japan
The world's third-largest economy, an Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU — and the highest standards anywhere
Japan is surprisingly open to a European exporter: the EU–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement has applied since February 2019 and tariffs on the overwhelming majority of goods are gone or going. The barrier is not customs but quality and relationship — a Japanese buyer tests a supplier for a long time and then stays for years. Anyone expecting a quick deal is disappointed; anyone who lasts has a customer for a decade.
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Setting up a company
Setting up a company and tax are the part of the profile you cannot assemble elsewhere in an afternoon. The rest of the page is open.
- ·Legal forms
- ·Minimum capital
- ·Documents to incorporate
- ·Bank account
- ·What to watch for
Taxes
Setting up a company and tax are the part of the profile you cannot assemble elsewhere in an afternoon. The rest of the page is open.
- ·Corporate income tax
- ·VAT
- ·VAT registration
- ·Withholding tax — dividends
- ·Payroll contributions
What it makes and needs
Premium food and drink (Japan is Asia's largest buyer of European wine and cheese), pharmaceuticals and medical technology, speciality chemicals, precision engineering, luxury and design goods.
Importing into their market
Under the EU–Japan agreement tariffs on the overwhelming majority of European goods are removed or being removed on a schedule; wine went duty-free immediately, cheese and pork in stages. The preference is claimed on a statement of origin from a registered exporter (REX) — without it you pay the full rate.
The tariff barrier is gone; the technical one is not. Food is screened under the Food Sanitation Act (additives and residues are judged more strictly than in the Union), medical devices and medicines go through the PMDA, electrical goods through the PSE law. Approval takes longer than is usual in the Union.
The declaration is filed through NACCS. The consignment needs an invoice, packing list, transport document, the statement of origin under the EU–Japan agreement and, depending on the goods, certification under the Food Sanitation Act, JAS or PSE.
Japanese-language labelling is mandatory for food, cosmetics and consumer goods: composition, allergens, nutrition, importer and storage. A Japanese buyer is usually more sensitive to print quality and translation accuracy than to price.
Practical matters
In a Japanese company the decision is prepared before the meeting rather than in it — the practice is called nemawashi, and it means anyone who arrives with a presentation expecting an answer leaves without one. Evaluation tends to be long, with samples and a visit to the supplier's plant; but once a buyer says yes, they stay for years.
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