In 2018, Japan’s consumer food/beverage sector was $779 billion, up 11%+ over 8 years (USDA Foreign Agricultural Service). Its food and beverage packaging market is estimated to reach US$19 billion in 2020 and to continue its solid growth.

The food packaging sector is expanding faster than the overall economy. Its growth is driven by the increasing consumption of single-serve, prepared foods due to the growing trends of single-member households, aging population, increase in women in the workforce, and popularity of eCommerce in consumer food distribution. [1]    

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The safety of food contact materials in Japan is governed by the national laws and the well-established voluntary standards of the country's trade organizations. In June 2020, the revised Food Sanitation Act adopted the National Positive List (PL) compliance system regulating polymer materials used in manufacturing UCP products for Japan. This welcomed change brought the national rule in line with the existing private-sector PL system as well as those of EU and the U.S. Both the NPL and private-sector PL standards now apply to manufacturers and distributors within the industry's supply chain of the food contact materials, such as resins, additives, intermediate materials, and final UCP products.

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Starting in 4/2021, implementation of Japan's food contact material regulations along with the new compliance requirements and necessary product certification processes will be unified under a single trade institution, JCII Food Contact Material Safety Center. 

[1] “2019 & 2017 Packaging Material Trend and Outlook”, Fuji Keizai Group