U.S. - Japan Equivalence Arrangement

The United States maintains an organic equivalence arrangement with Japan. This arrangement reopens the important Japanese consumer market for U.S. organic producers of all sizes and creates jobs and opportunity for the U.S. organic food and farming sector. The two-way trade arrangement was the first in Asia and provides access for U.S. exporters to a growing consumer market overseas.

Scope: This arrangement is limited to organic products traded directly between the U.S. and Japan with their final processing occurring in either country. Allowed product categories: Crops, Wild Crops, Livestock, and Processed Products, including alcohol beverages.

Note: OTA would like to credit the NOP Japan webpage for much of the information that appears on this page. 

Background and Clarifications

As of January 1, 2014, under the arrangement the Japan Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries (MAFF) will recognize USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP) as equivalent to the Japanese Agricultural Standards (JAS) and the MAFF Organic Program (under applicable JAS regulations) and will allow products produced and certified as meeting USDA’s NOP standards to be marketed as “organic” in Japan. Likewise, the U.S. will allow Japanese products produced and certified under the JAS Organic Program to be marketed as “organic” in the U.S.

Conformity Assessments

Through a series of meetings and comprehensive on-site audits of both programs, both parties were able to ensure that while some of national program rules and approaches are not identical, they achieve an equivalent level of compliance, meet same objectives and maintain the high-quality standards important to the integrity of both programs.

Critical Variances

Requirements for JAS-certified organic products exported to the U.S.:

• Agricultural products derived from animals treated with antibiotics shall not be sold, labeled, or represented as organic in the U.S.
• Crops or products using crops “in transition to organic” shall not be marketed in the U.S. This includes livestock products from animals fed “in transition to organic” livestock feed.
• Alcohol beverages sold, labeled, or represented as organic in the U.S. must be processed without the use of sulfites. Japanese grape wine processed using sulfites may be sold, labeled, and represented as “made with organic grapes” in the U.S. if it is processed only using sulfites and other non-organic substances and in accordance with 7 CFR 205.605. 

Requirements for USDA-certified organic products exported to Japan

• This equivalence covers only USDA organic products that also fall under the scope of the JAS organic standards. Organic products that are not regulated under the JAS organic standards, but are certified organic by a USDA accredited certifier, can be exported to Japan under the conditions of Section II.E., Appendix I of the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries (MAFF) equivalence letter of September 20, 2013
• All organic products exported under the arrangement must have 95% or greater organic content. This means that USDA-certified “Made With Organic” (MWO) products are not covered under the arrangement.
• USDA-certified grape wine produced with added sulfites in accordance with 7 CFR 205.605, and made only with organic grapes, may be labeled as organic for export only to Japan. Such wine must be produced in accordance with the Japanese substances permitted under Organic Processed Food Standards (JAS1606), may not use the USDA organic logo, and must display the JAS logo. 

Requirements for Export Documentation 

Exports to Japan require TM-11 :  Products exported to Japan that fall under the scope of the arrangement must be accompanied by a USDA Export Certificate, Form TM-11 (pdf), issued by a USDA accredited certifier. The export certificate must include the following statement:

• “Certified in compliance with the terms of the US-Japan Organic Equivalence Arrangement.”
• For products going to Japan, the last operator in the supply chain must be entered in the “Producer” box of the TM-11.

Exports to the U.S. require import certificates :  Japan organic products that fall under the scope of the arrangement must be associated with an NOP Import Certificate. Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)-accredited certification bodies generate NOP Import Certificates in USDA’s GLOBAL Organic Integrity Database (Global Integrity). Operations that export products from Japan to the U.S. under the organic equivalence arrangement are also listed in Global Integrity under the Trade Partners tab. The NOP Import Certificate must include the attestation statement:

“Certified in compliance with the terms of the U.S.-Japan Organic Equivalence Arrangement.” 

Labeling Requirements under the arrangement

The use of the JAS organic seal is mandatory:

Producers and Processors wishing to apply the JAS Seal in the U.S. must EITHER:

• Be certified by a JAS accredited certifier OR
• Have a contractual relationship with a JAS-accredited importer

Alcohol

• Name of the certified alcoholic beverage
• Name and address of the certified organic vineyard, distillery or brewery
• Country of origin
• Name and address of the organic certifying agent

Geographic Scope of this Agreement

• Products grown, processed, packaged (where final processing occurred) in Japan or the U.S. and certified by an accredited certifying agency (ACA) operating within their respective country/region borders can be shipped directly to Japan/U.S. as a certified organic product
• Products certified to either standard that were not grown, processed, packaged in the U.S. or Japan cannot be shipped directly to Japan /U.S.
• Products not grown, processed or packaged in Japan that are destined for the U.S. must be certified to the USDA-NOP standard by a USDA-accredited certifier
• Products not grown, processed or packaged in the U.S. to be shipped directly to Japan must be certified to the JAS standard or certified by a certification body recognized by Japan as an equivalent certification body/foreign certification agent 

Mutual Accreditation

Seal Use

Use of the USDA Organic seal is voluntary, provided that products meet the USDA labeling requirements

The use of the JAS organic logo is mandatory for products destined to Japan for those products that are JAS eligible (plant and plant-based products) 

Certifier Mark

Labeling Requirements

Products traded under this arrangement must meet the labeling requirements of their destination country. For more information, visit the NOP website.

Contact

OTA Members can direct questions about this agreement to:

Visit the National Organic Program  Website for more information

The Organic Trade Association does not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, national origin or ancestry, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, marital status, political affiliation or military status. Persons with disabilities who require alternate means for communication of program information can contact us at info@ota.com.