Japan: An Overview of the Food Labeling Standard
In August 2012, the Consumer Affairs Agency (CAA) started to work towards completion of a comprehensive Food Labeling Standard (see, e.g., GAIN Reports JA3001 and JA3054). The CAA notified a draft proposal to the World Trade Organization (WTO), consolidating 58 different standards across three different laws into a single standard, on August 29, 2014. Among numerous smaller changes, the CAA made nine substantial changes, the most significant of which was a requirement for mandatory nutritional labeling on pre-packaged processed foods. The standard entered into force in April 2015.
