The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) of Japan announced to implement the ISPM No.15 to restrict the Wooden Packaging Material(WPM) on October 6, 2006. The new rule will be applied to all the import cargoes arriving at Japanese ports on or after April 1, 2007. The new rule is based on the international standard so called ISPM No.15 as is already adopted by many countries such as USA, Canada, China and EU countries.

From the first of April 2007, the wood packaging material (such as cases, boxes, crates, drums, pallets) can only be imported into Japan if they meet the following requirements:
The wood packaging material shall:
(1)be subject to one of the approved measures as specified in ISPM No.15, and
（2）display the IPPC Marking as specified in Annex 2 of the ISPM No.15

In Japan, the MAFF preliminary hearing took place in February, 2006 followed by explanatory meetings in August and September in various cities in Japan. Official Public Hearing was held on September 13, 2006 to which Japan Shippers’ Council submitted their opinion. Announcement on the official gazette was made on October 6, 2006 and the MAFF will soon advise the World Trade Organization by SPS Notification. Japan is actually one of the last countries to apply the rule for the import WPM.

There will be a certain mitigation period and strict penalties such as shipping back the cargo should never happen even in case of violation in Japan. Violating WPM will be treated or disposed of in Japan after the delivery of the cargo to the final destination. The rule of Japan is almost same as the quarantine restrictions taken by China, EU and the United States. However there is no special requirement mentioned on wooden dunnage or debarking requirements, which sometime causes the troubles in certain countries.

Japan Shippers’ Council, in its statement at the public hearing, welcomes the new rule for the protection of the environment and the forest resources in Japan. At the same time, they mentioned that it is necessary not to apply the rule too strict for the interest of the trading circle, which will contribute to the public interest of the consumers as well. The new rule will stimulate the re-usage of the wooden pallets in and out of Japan.