On August 30, 2024, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan (MHLW) issued the 2023 "Supervision and Guidance Results of the imported Food Supervision and Guidance Plan" and "imported Food Supervision Statistics". The main contents are as follows:

(Ⅰ) Specific contents of supervision and guidance include:

(1) Review of import notices: The number of import declarations is 235,033 pieces, weighing about 29.87 million tons. In the import declaration, 199,272 items were inspected, of which 763 were confirmed to be illegal and measures such as reloading and destruction were taken;

(2) Monitoring and inspection: 500,060 cases, of which 131 were confirmed illegal, recycling, waste and other measures were taken;

(3) Execution of inspection orders: a total of 62,333, 241 of which were confirmed to be illegal, and measures such as stacking and abandonment were taken;

(4) Violations: 182 violations of pollution containing harmful and toxic substances and pathogenic microorganisms, 156 violations of pesticide residue specifications, 149 violations of microbial specifications, 111 cases of use of specified additives and violations of standards for the use of additives, 50 violations of corruption, deterioration (odor, mildew, etc.), 32 cases of violations of equipment and container packaging specifications, There were 28 cases involving animal drug residues violating specifications, and 58 other cases;

(5) Comprehensive import ban measures: For nearly 60 cases of imported food with a violation rate of more than 5%, the exporting country has been asked to improve, and the health management situation has been investigated, but no food has been found to apply this measure;

(6) Emergency response based on information about food safety problems abroad: Aflatoxin contamination in almonds from chocolate raw materials produced in Belgium and listeria and listeria monocytogenes contamination in natural cheese produced in Australia were found. We investigated the circulation situation and ordered the recycling of the products in circulation. At the same time, we took measures such as the return of relevant products and strengthened the monitoring system during import.

(7) Promotion of health management measures in exporting countries: bilateral consultations and technical cooperation;

(8) Implementation of guidance on voluntary safety management by importers: 77 presentations were made at seminars and workshops organized by quarantine stations and related organizations throughout the country, and 23,266 cases of pre-import guidance (import consultation) were implemented, of which 404 were found not to be in compliance with the law;

(9) Publish information on violations of imported food, etc., and cooperate with county governments, etc.;

(10) Providing information to the public;

(Ⅱ) The main contents of supervision statistics include:

(1) The number of import notices in 2023 will be about 2.35 million, and the weight of import notices will be about 29.87 million tons. 199,272 cases were examined, of which 763 (out of a total of 812) were found to be illegal and measures such as loading or disposal were taken;

(2) Monitoring and inspection in 2023, a total of 101,096 (implementation rate: about 101%) were carried out for 100,109 plans, a total of 139 were considered illegal, and measures such as recall were taken;

(3) For imported food that may be in violation, Japan requires the government of the exporting country to investigate the cause of the violation and develop measures to prevent recurrence, and to promote sanitary measures in the exporting country through bilateral consultations and other means.