Exporters must declare to the Director-General of Customs the nature of the goods as well as the quantity, price, and any other necessary particulars. An export permit must also be obtained after the necessary physical examination.
Goods for export must be brought into the Customs(Hozei) area or a specially permitted place for storage. The exporter or his proxy (known as a Customs broker) prepares an export declaration describing the nature, quantity, and value, of the goods to be exported. This declaration is accompanied by invoices and other supporting documents and, if required by Japanese laws and regulations other than the Customs Law (hereinafter referred to as "other laws and regulations "), by other documents, such as permits, approvals, or licenses (e.g., exportation of strategically sensitive materials under the control of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry).
The submitted export declaration is checked against invoices and other supporting documents at Customs.
Document checking is conducted when a statistical classification is correctly made according to the Export Statistical Schedule, when the required permission or approval is secured with respect to pertinent goods, and when a correct application for approved excise tax exemption accompanies the goods which are to be exempted. In checking the submitted documents, Customs decides whether the goods have to be physically examined to ascertain the correctness of the classification of goods and to see whether the examinations required by laws and regulations other than the Customs Law have been completed.
In principle, Customs examinations of goods are conducted at a Customs examination zone in the Customhouse or where the goods are stored in cases where the goods cannnot be brought to the Customs examination zone.
At the time of export declaration, the exporter is requested to submit two copies of the export report. One is for statistics and the other is kept at Customs for needs such as export certification.