“Let’s do it ourselves!” has always been Alishan’s philosophy. Take our building for example. Of course it was built by professional carpenters but I heard that the staff helped out too. More recently the boss, Jack, built the deck extension for the cafe. He’s even grown and harvested the garlic that is used in the cafe. This time it was my turn to try something new – import clearance.

This is the 10^th year that Alishan has organized their own customs paperwork (most companies use a customs broker). As the person in charge is away this week I have had to take his place. This time was a container ship from the east coast of America: Crunchy peanut butter; granola; pancake mix; couscous and a lot of maple syrup!

The first step is to have the products checked at the Ministry of Health in Tokyo. The samples are taken to quarantine where the production method, importation history and additives are checked. However, in the case of peanut butter we must first prove that it is free of mycotoxin and aflatoxin before it reaches customs. To test the product though, we must first gain permission from the Ministry of Health to remove a sample of the product for testing. First we must request, then wait to receive an order paper which we then present to customs in order to gain permission to enter the bonded warehouse. We must then apply to the shipping company with permission from customs to finally gain access to the peanut butter provided we are accompanied by a government-approved inspector. This allows us to carry out the necessary testing which will then allow us to complete our customs application.

Once the peanut butter was cleared I then returned to quarantine to deliver the final paperwork. This container also contained a pallet of peanut butter (1260 jars) that was sent as a donation to Tohoku. Donations to Tohoku can enter the country tax-free so it needs it’s own import declaration . We will deliver this straight on to Second Harvest Japan.

Even though Alishan is a company, because we don’t have a customs broker we deal with the department for personal declaration. As this section is intended for the general public the customs officials are very friendly and are happy to teach you how to fill out the forms. However, because of the large number of items and the large volumes of each item it can be very difficult to calculate the tax rates for each product. Even though the guy who usually handles this had completed much of the paperwork in advance I still had a headache by the end of it!

Finally the paperwork and the inspection was finished, the payment notice was issued and I was free to leave. All that remains is to organize for a shipping company to pick up the products and have them delivered to our warehouse in Saitama. I shall be happy when my colleague comes back next week!

This is a translation of this report. If you spot any mistakes please let me know!

One Response to “How to Import Peanut Butter”