You can import dehydrated onion and garlic from India into Japan. Every commercial food shipment is notified to a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) quarantine station under the Food Sanitation Act, and what usually stops a shipment is a pesticide residue above Japan's strict limits, or a microbiology failure found in inspection.
The import notification
The importer, usually through a customs broker, files an import notification for food for each shipment at the quarantine station covering the port of entry, normally through Japan's electronic NACCS system. The station reviews the documents and decides whether the lot needs inspection. Inspection may be ordered when a product or origin has a record of violations, and if it is, the goods wait until the results come back.
Food standards, including residue limits, were moved from MHLW to the Consumer Affairs Agency in April 2024, while border inspection stays with the MHLW quarantine stations. Labels follow the Food Labeling Act, in Japanese.
The positive list for residues
Japan uses a positive list system. Pesticides with a set limit for a food must stay under that limit, and any pesticide without a set limit must not exceed a uniform 0.01 ppm. Dried vegetables are assessed with their drying taken into account, but a residue that would be fine elsewhere can still fail in Japan. Ask your laboratory to report against Japanese limits, and read pesticide residue testing for dehydrated onion for setting up the panel.
- Pesticide multi-residue screen against Japanese limits.
- Microbiology: total plate count, coliforms, E. coli and salmonella. See salmonella in dehydrated onion.
- Ethylene oxide and 2-chloroethanol, as many Japanese buyers expect it.
- Sulphites and any additive, since Japan lists permitted additives.
Plant quarantine
Japan's Plant Protection Act is applied by the Plant Protection Stations of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF). Some highly processed plant products are exempt, while some dried products are still subject to inspection. Whether your form of dried onion or garlic needs a phytosanitary certificate depends on the current MAFF rules, so confirm with the broker or the Plant Protection Station before shipping.
Documents
- Commercial invoice, packing list and bill of lading.
- Certificate of origin under the India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), in force since 2011, if you want to claim preference.
- Phytosanitary certificate, if MAFF requires it for your product.
- Lab reports and a manufacturing process sheet, which the broker uses for the notification.
Duty
Check the rate in Japan Customs' tariff schedule under the commodity code, including the CEPA column for India. Your broker can confirm the code and the origin rules.
What Japan buys and how it arrives
Japanese food makers use onion powder and granules in curry roux, sauces, soups, dressings and seasonings, and minced or chopped onion in instant noodles, soups and ready meals. Garlic powder and granules go into seasonings and sauces. Buyers tend to be strict on colour, foreign matter and lot consistency, and many will audit or ask for detailed process information. Steam sterilisation is often discussed; see whether steam sterilisation changes flavour.
Containers from Mundra, Pipavav or Nhava Sheva usually tranship at Colombo, Singapore or another Asian hub and arrive at Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka or Kobe. Total transit is often three to five weeks, depending on the service.
Cities
Tokyo covers the Tokyo Bay ports and the largest food market in Japan.
Osaka covers the Kansai ports of Osaka and Kobe and the region's food makers.
Next step
Send a pre-shipment lab report and a process sheet to your Japanese broker before the goods sail, so the notification can be prepared in advance.
We work on the supplier side in India: finding and auditing plants for dehydrated onion and dehydrated garlic, having each lot tested at an NABL-accredited laboratory to Japanese limits, supervising loading and checking documents, for one written fee agreed in advance. To plan a Japanese order, book a free sourcing review.