Importing alpaca toys from Peru into Japan

The import duty on alpaca stuffed animals from Peru into Japan is free: they fall under tariff code 9503.00, statistical code 000, and the general rate on that code is free. Japan's tariff schedule of 8 August 2026 shows the same free rate in the column for the Japan Peru Economic Partnership Agreement.

The code covers dolls and other toys, and an alpaca stuffed animal sits under the international heading 9503.00 in every market. The Japan Toy Association notes that Japan's import tariffs on toys were repealed in April 2017. Have your customs broker confirm the code before the goods arrive.

Alpaca toys from Peru do not need a certificate of origin to enter Japan duty free, because the general rate on code 9503.00 is already free. The Japan Peru Economic Partnership Agreement, in force since 1 March 2012, lowers duties on goods that originate in Peru, but on stuffed animals there is no duty left to lower.

When a buyer or broker still wants the preferential proof, the agreement accepts two forms. A certificate of origin is issued by the competent authority in Peru on the exporter's written application, and an origin declaration on the invoice may only be made out by an approved exporter. Either one is valid for 12 months, and Japan Customs does not ask for a proof on a consignment worth 200,000 yen or less.

With Tubi you ask for the proof of origin with your quotation, and it is arranged with the export documents.

Alpaca toys imported into Japan pay consumption tax at the standard rate of 10%, worked out over the customs value of the goods plus any customs duty. With the duty at zero for stuffed animals, the tax in practice is 10% of the customs value.

The tax is paid at import, usually through your customs broker, before the goods are released. How the tax paid at import is treated in your own consumption tax return is a question for your tax adviser.

Any business that files the import declaration can import alpaca stuffed animals into Japan; in practice a company based in Japan acts as the importer and a licensed customs broker clears the goods for it.

A company without an address in Japan can also import, but it must first appoint a customs procedure agent in Japan and notify the customs office in advance. The agent handles the declaration, the payment of duty and tax and contact with customs, and must have an address or residence in Japan.

Whoever imports also carries the toy duties described below: the Food Sanitation Act notification and, for toys for children under 3, the PSC notification and labels. A shop that does not import itself can buy through a Japanese importer who takes on these duties.

Yes, the Food Sanitation Act applies to alpaca stuffed animals in Japan when they are made for infants, because animal toys (動物がん具) and dolls are on the list of designated toys. The rules cover toys for children under 6 that may harm an infant's health through contact, and since 2008 they apply regardless of the material.

• An import notification for every shipment. The importer files the Notification Form for Importation of Foods, etc. at the quarantine station of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for the port of entry, and presents the confirmed form to customs before the goods are released.
• Possible inspection. The quarantine station reviews the papers and can order an inspection of the goods before it accepts the notification.
• The specifications. Designated toys must meet the ministry's toy specifications. They set limits for lead, cadmium and arsenic in coatings and other materials and include a test that colour does not bleed from a textile toy. A toy that does not meet them may not be imported or sold.

The Japan Toy Association points out that these legal requirements match parts of EN 71-3, but that EN 71-3 does not cover all of them. Before a first shipment, ask your quarantine station or a testing laboratory in Japan which test results it accepts for the notification.

Alpaca toys need the child PSC mark in Japan when they are designed for children under 3: since 25 December 2025, toys for children younger than 36 months are specified products for children under the Consumer Product Safety Act. Toys for ages 3 and over fall outside this rule.

For a toy for children under 3, the manufacturer or importer in Japan must:

1. notify the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry before it starts importing;
2. check that the toy meets the technical standards and keep the inspection records; a toy that conforms to ISO, EN or ASTM standards named in the rules, or to the ST standard, is treated as meeting them;
3. set the age according to the ministry's age criteria;
4. show on the toy or its packaging, in Japanese, the age, a note that a parent should supervise play, its own name, and the round child PSC mark.

The ministry says an age in a foreign language or in figures only must be changed into Japanese. Shops may no longer sell toys for children under 3 without the child PSC mark.

The Household Goods Quality Labeling Act is a different matter: stuffed toys are not among the textile products it lists, so no fibre label under that act is needed for an alpaca stuffed animal.

The ST mark is the voluntary safety mark of the Japan Toy Association for toys for children aged 14 and under; no law asks for it. A toy may carry it once a testing body accredited by the association has approved it against the ST standard, which has three parts: mechanical and physical properties, flammability, and chemical properties.

A company that signs the ST mark licence agreement with the association joins its liability mutual aid programme, which covers accidents caused by toys with the mark. The association adds that the ST standard corresponds to parts of EN 71-1, 2 and 3, but that EN 71 does not cover all of it, so an ST test is a test of its own. Under the PSC rules, a toy for children under 3 that conforms to the ST standard counts as meeting the technical standards.

To order alpaca stuffed animals wholesale from Tubi for Japan, you place your order naming Japan, pay half to start production, and the alpacas leave the workshop with the commercial invoice and packing list; the proof of origin and the test results come on request. Tubi has shipped to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy and South Korea, among other countries.

Every Tubi alpaca is tested the same way, to EN 71-1 and ASTM F963 for mechanical safety, EN 71-2 for flammability and EN 71-3 for metals, and passes. The results can always be shown, and sent on request to confirm. Japan writes its own toy rules, so these results support a notification but may not be all a quarantine station or an ST testing body asks for: check before the first shipment whether a test in Japan is needed, and plan the time for it.

1. Choose collections, shades and sizes in the collection or on the order form, name Japan as the country you sell in, and ask for the test results and the proof of origin if you want them. The minimum is $350.00 for the whole order.
2. Within 24 hours you get the quotation, with the price, the ready date, the HS code for your broker and the delivery terms: DAP, delivered to your door, or ex works, collected by your own forwarder.
3. Half the amount starts production, the order is ready in 2 to 8 weeks, and the other half is paid before shipping. Tubi puts the age label on each alpaca.
4. Your broker clears the alpacas in Japan: the quarantine notification, the consumption tax and the import declaration. For toys for children under 3, you add your name and the child PSC mark before sale.

The wider steps of buying from Peru are in how to import alpaca toys from Peru, and the tests are explained in are alpaca stuffed animals safe.