Japan / METI / PSE
Marketplace PSE sellers into Japan must register and appoint an administrator.
METI's new cross-border e-commerce regulation took effect on 25th December 2025 (令和7年12月25日), bringing PSE-certified electrical products sold to Japanese consumers via platforms like Amazon Japan and Temu under new supervision: overseas sellers register as a "specified import business operator" and must appoint a Japan-based domestic administrator. They cannot self-file through GBizID/Hoan-Net — that route needs a Japanese corporate number they don't have. Separately, the deadline to upgrade circular-mark PSE certification from the J62368-1 (2020) standard to J62368-1 (2023) was 30th April 2026 — already behind us, not ahead.
Last updated 19th September 2026 · By Vas Parshin and Anabel Amar
What the December 2025 rule actually requires
METI's amended Product Safety 4 Laws (including the Denan/PSE act) took effect on 25th December 2025. They apply when an overseas business sells PSE-regulated electrical products directly to Japanese consumers through an online marketplace without going through a Japan-based importer — METI classes that seller as a "specified import business operator" (特定輸入事業者). Two things now apply together, not either alone: a business-start notification filed with METI, and appointment of a domestic administrator based in Japan. A business that already holds a valid PSE certificate is not automatically compliant with this rule — the certificate covers the product, these requirements cover the seller and the sales channel. METI's own page states plainly that a specified import business operator who files without appointing a domestic administrator cannot display the PSE mark at all, which means it cannot sell the product under this route. (One widely-repeated secondary claim we could not confirm: that the PSE mark itself has a fixed minimum size. METI's own procedure page states the mark's overall size, frame thickness, font and colour are unregulated as long as it stays identifiable as the symbol — there is no "5mm minimum diameter" rule.)
GBizID and the domestic administrator, specifically
METI's e-filing system, Hoan-Net, requires a GBizID Prime account to submit a notification electronically. But per METI's own page, an overseas specified import business operator cannot obtain a GBizID Prime account or use Hoan-Net at all, because that registration requires a Japanese corporate number (法人番号) that an overseas business does not have — METI's guidance is to contact its Product Safety Division directly instead of trying to self-register. Where a Japan-based agent does hold a GBizID Prime account to file on a business's behalf, GBizID's own site states the account stays valid for 2 years 3 months from issue or renewal, not one year, and how long the underlying identity review takes varies by application route rather than a fixed number of days. The domestic administrator requirement is separate and additional: per METI's page, a real person or appointed representative, based in Japan, with a Japanese address and Japanese-language ability, who acts as METI's point of contact and is responsible for keeping inspection records and responding to METI's information requests and inspections. Together these mean a seller needs standing Japan-side presence to keep selling into the market at all — not merely to stay "compliant" in the abstract, since METI ties the domestic administrator directly to the right to display the PSE mark.
Already in force, not upcoming: the J62368-1 standard upgrade
Separately from the December 2025 marketplace rule, products carrying Japan's circular PSE mark or an S-mark and certified under the J62368-1 (2020) standard were required to complete the upgrade to J62368-1 (2023) by 30th April 2026. As of this page (September 2026) that date has already passed — this is a compliance gap to check for right now, not a deadline to plan ahead of. Diamond-shaped PSE mark holders are treated differently: existing J62368-1 (2020) diamond certificates remain valid for their full 5-year term and were not forced onto the same upgrade schedule. Anyone reviewing PSE status for products already on the Japanese market should confirm which mark type applies before assuming which rule governs it.
Who this actually lands on
Any business selling PSE-regulated electrical products — power banks, chargers, small appliances, and similar consumer electronics — to Japanese consumers through Amazon Japan, Temu, or a comparable marketplace, whether the goods ship from overseas or from a Japan-based warehouse. Sellers who treated PSE certification as the finish line for Japan market access are exactly who the December 2025 rule catches: the certificate is necessary but no longer sufficient without registering as a specified import business operator and putting a domestic administrator in place. Anyone exporting consumer electronics into Japan via marketplace channels should treat this as a standing compliance check on each active listing, not a one-off item closed out when the product was first certified.
Questions
What changed with Japan's cross-border e-commerce rules?
METI's new cross-border e-commerce regulation took effect on 25th December 2025. It brings sellers of PSE-regulated electrical products on marketplaces used by Japanese consumers — Amazon Japan, Temu and similar platforms — under stricter supervision: the overseas seller registers with METI as a specified import business operator, and must appoint a Japan-based domestic administrator as the compliance contact point. It applies whether the seller ships directly from overseas or through a Japan-based fulfilment operation. It does not, however, mean the overseas seller registers for GBizID — that route is only open to filers with a Japanese corporate number.
Does an overseas seller need to register for GBizID?
No, and this is a common misreading. METI's e-filing system for the December 2025 rule, Hoan-Net, requires a GBizID Prime account — but GBizID Prime registration requires a Japanese corporate number, which an overseas business does not have, so an overseas specified import business operator cannot use Hoan-Net or GBizID at all. METI's own guidance directs overseas sellers to contact its Product Safety Division directly instead. Where a Japan-based agent does hold a GBizID Prime account to file on a business's behalf, GBizID's own site states the account is valid for 2 years 3 months from issue or renewal, not one year.
What does the domestic administrator requirement involve?
Exporters must appoint a domestic administrator based in Japan, with a valid Japanese address and Japanese-language ability, to act as METI's point of contact and to keep inspection records and respond to METI's information requests and inspections. This is a new, separate requirement layered on top of PSE certification and testing — and METI's own guidance states it is stronger than a compliance formality: a specified import business operator that files without appointing a domestic administrator cannot display the PSE mark at all, and so cannot sell the product through this route.
Is the J62368-1 standard-upgrade deadline still upcoming?
No — it has already passed. Products carrying the circular PSE mark or an S-mark under the J62368-1 (2020) standard needed to complete the upgrade to J62368-1 (2023) by 30th April 2026. That date is behind us as of this page (September 2026), so any circular-marked product still certified to the 2020 edition is already out of compliance, not approaching a future deadline. Diamond-shaped PSE marks are treated differently: existing J62368-1 (2020) diamond certificates remain valid for their full 5-year term and were not forced to upgrade by the April 2026 date.
Where we fit
Exporting into Japan alongside the EU, UK, US, Korea, India or China usually means adding a separate PSE and cross-border e-commerce check to whatever regulatory review already covers those markets — and, for Japan specifically, arranging for a domestic administrator most exporters do not already have on hand. We fold Japan's PSE scope, the specified-import-business notification and domestic-administrator requirement into the same market-access review we run for the other jurisdictions we cover, so it is one process per product, not a separate one to track per country.
Contact usSources
- METI, "Overseas businesses are now subject to the Product Safety 4 Laws" (海外事業者が製品安全４法の規制対象となりました)
- METI, PSE marking procedure page (表示)
- GBizID, "Account expiry" (アカウントの有効期限)
- UL Solutions Japan, notice of METI's 1st May 2023 partial revision of the Denan technical-standard interpretation (電気用品の技術上の基準を定める省令の解釈について一部改正), linking to METI's own Denan Act topics page (the specific 1st May 2023 entry has since rotated off METI's live topics list, which shows only its most recent revisions, so UL's dated notice quoting METI's own text is the citable record)