Japan Extends Transition Period for Food‑Contact Material Standards

In a notice dated February 13, 2026, Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency (CAA) revised the implementation rules for recently amended standards governing food contact utensils, containers, and packaging. This revision extends transition periods‑ and clarifies enforcement during the shift to a positive list regulatory system.

The notice partially revises earlier guidance related to amendments of the Specifications and Standards for Foods, Food Additives, etc., which were updated to streamline use-specific standards and strengthen oversight of materials that encounter food. The changes are intended to ease compliance burdens while maintaining food safety, according to the CAA.

Food contact apparatus, containers and packaging already on the market may continue to comply with the previous rules if they were sold, manufactured or imported for commercial use before June 1, 2030, pushing back the original June 1, 2027, cutoff.

These rules now extend to “similar items” (“これと同様のもの”) which the notice defines as equipment or containers/packaging that were manufactured or imported using substances that were used in equipment or containers/packaging sold, manufactured for sale, imported or used commercially before the effective date or during the transitional period, to the extent that such substances were used.

Official Source