January 7, 2020
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| Revised Guidance on the Rules of Origin Procedure |
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Happy New Year! I hope the beginning of the year has treated you well so far.
Although we hope that the initial problems with the Rules of Origin and in particular the statements on origin have been resolved, the authorities are still working hard at making the process as smooth as possible at both ends.
For this purpose, EU and Japan have published revised guidance on the Rules of Origin procedures which can be found here.
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| November 7, 2019 |
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| EBC HR seminar - Work Style Reform |
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On 7 November the EBC HR Committee arranged a seminar on the recent changes to the Labour Standard Act. This seminar was organised in cooperation with the Tokyo Employment Consultation Center. Kaoro Kurata of the Center went through both the background and the changes to the legislation.
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| October 1, 2019 |
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| BREXIT - Recent developments and how it is going to impact business |
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On 1 October the European Business Council in Japan (EBC) had the pleasure of having Simon McGee of APCO Worldwide and Stephan Wernicke of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry give a presentation on BREXIT and the impact on European business.
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| September 19, 2019 |
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| EBC Chairman M. Mroczek hands over to PM Abe this year's recommendations from the EU-Japan Business Round Table |
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On September 18, 2019 the Co-Chairs of the EU-Japan Business Round Table (Mr Sakuyama of Mitsubishi Electric, Japan-side co-chair and Mr Mroczek, EBC Chairman, on behalf of Mr. Story, Rolls Royce, EU-side co-chair) met with PM Shinzo Abe at the Prime Minister's Residence to officially deliver this year's recommendations from the EU-Japan Business Round Table to the Japanese Government.
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| August 1, 2019 |
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| EU-Japan EPA - Claiming preferential tariff treatment upon importation in Japan: Interim simplified procedure in case an importer is requested by Japan Customs to provide additional explanations on the origin of a product |
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IMPORTANT UPDATE on EU-Japan EPA - Claiming preferential tariff treatment upon importation in Japan |
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| July 5, 2019 |
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| Conclusions of the Committee on Rules of Origin and Customs-Related Matters of the EU-Japan EPA on the Rules of Origin issue |
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The Committee on Rules of Origin and Customs-Related Matters (hereinafter referred to as “CROCRM”) of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (hereinafter referred to as “the Agreement”) hereby confirms the “Conclusions” as follows:
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| June 3, 2019 |
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| EU Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan meets EBC in Tokyo |
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On the occasion of the G20 of the ministers of Agriculture hold in Nagoya on May 11, Commissioner Phil Hogan came too Japan accompanying a large delegation of more than 60 European business representatives in this important mission to Japan just after the implementation of the EPA.
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February 1, 2019
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| EBC press release - Economic Partnership Agreement |
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The European Business Council in Japan (EBC) welcomes the entry into force of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) on 1 February 2019. Today is a proud moment for the EBC. As the voice of the European business and industry in Japan, we are on the eve of a new relationship between our two respective markets. Trade relations between the two economies will forever be changed. This will create one of the world´s largest trade zone covering over 600 million people and nearly a third of global GDP.
Press release |
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| December 10, 2018 |
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| Joint statement on EU-Japan ratification |
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As the Japanese Parliament, both upper and lower House, has voted in favour of the EU-Japan EPA, and with the European Parliament about to do it, the EBC together with some other organisations has put out a call to the European Parliament to ratify the agreement as early as possible.
Business calls on the European Parliament to ratify the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement
The European Parliament is schedule to vote on the agreement on 12 December.
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| November 21, 2018 |
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| Joint Statement on Proposed Measures Regarding Renewable Power Project Development and Investment |
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The EBC, together with the ACCJ, the ANZCCJ, CCCJ and CCIFJ, issued a statement in response to the plans of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to introduce stricter new deadlines and other measures on solar power project. If these new deadlines are not met the feed-in-tariff (FIT) rate and the duration of the FIT rate will be significantly reduced.
Joint Statement on Proposed Measures Regarding Renewable Power Project Development and Investment |
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| June 27, 2018 |
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Presentation by the Fair Trade Commission (Updated)
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On June 27, Mr. Hiroshi Yamada, Deputy Secretary-General for International Affairs of the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC), talked to EBC members about recent developments at the JFTC in regards to anti-trust and competition, including enforcement trends and priorities.
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| June 19, 2018 |
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| EBC Tax Seminar (Updated with presentations) |
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On June 18, EBC Tax Committee members from the tax profession and industry introduced the tax impacts of the 2018 Tax Reform at both the individual and corporate levels at an EBC seminar held in the auditorium of the Delegation of the EU to Japan. They explained planning opportunities as well as common pitfalls and discussed these issues in a Q&A session.
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| May 31, 2018 |
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EU Event on the EU's New Data Privacy Rules (Updated)
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On May 31, an event on "New EU Data Privacy Rules in the Global Context" was held at the Delegation of the European Union to Japan.
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| April 23, 2018 |
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| EBC Policy Director Participates in a Free Trade Seminar |
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The EBC Policy Director, Bjorn Kongstad, participated as a moderator in a seminar on Japan - A Driver for Free Trade. The seminar was organised on 23 April by Team Sweden - Business Sweden, the Embassy of Sweden and the SCCJ. Key note speeches were given by the Swedish Minister for EU Affairs and Trade, Ann Linde, and METI's Director General for Trade Policy, Takehiko Matsuo. Both the speeches touched upon how unique the agreement between EU and Japan is, including issues that have never before been tackled by an FTA/EPA.
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| January 15, 2018 |
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| Tariff Schedule of Japan under EPA Available Online |
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The full text of the EU-Japan EPA has been available since early December at http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=1684 but did not include the tariff reductions/elimination details and dismantling periods for Japan. This information is now available at http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2017/december/tradoc_156519.pdf and should be of interest to companies bringing products currently subject to tariffs into Japan. |
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