Export business plan

Any person engaged in efforts to export agricultural, forestry and fishery products or food produced in Japan may, either individually or jointly, prepare a plan (hereinafter referred to as an "export business plan") for a business that aims to streamline, enhance or otherwise improve the production, manufacturing, processing or distribution of agricultural, forestry and fishery products or food in order to expand exports of such products or food (hereinafter referred to as an "export business plan"), and submit it to the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in accordance with the provisions of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ordinance to receive approval.

What is an export business plan?

This is a system in which the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries provides support to those who are working to expand the export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products and food. Manufacturers can receive support to improve their production, manufacturing, processing and distribution processes and to further enhance their capabilities. The support that can be received is described below.

Benefits of having your export business plan approved

There are three main benefits to having your export business plan certified:

First, there are preferential treatment measures for export-related businesses.
Secondly, you can receive support from a support team (the national government, JETRO, prefectures, experts, etc.). However, at the time of submitting your business plan, you will need to receive advice from consulting companies and JETRO and create an environment in which you can turn the PDCA cycle.
Thirdly, you can receive loans from the Japan Finance Corporation (Food Distribution Improvement Fund, HACCP Fund).

Types of export business plans

Export business plans can be categorized into seven types:

① When using the GFP Global Production Area Development Promotion Project

② If you wish to receive preferential treatment (preferential adoption, etc.) in export-related businesses, etc. 

③ If you would like support from the support team 

④ Export production areas and businesses listed based on the Implementation Strategy for Expanding Exports of Agricultural, Forestry, and Fishery Products and Food (Decided by the Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Industry and Regional Vitality Creation Headquarters in December 2020. Hereinafter referred to as the "Implementation Strategy"). 

⑤ If you wish to utilize the Japan Finance Corporation's system funds 

⑥ A combination of ① to ⑤ 

⑦ If you only wish to formulate a plan and do not wish to receive any special support

Completing an export business plan

The export business plan (Form 1) must satisfy the following four criteria and describe them comprehensively. The four criteria are as follows:

(1) Have a concrete understanding of the needs of the target export countries. 

(2) The issues and efforts required to respond to exports are clearly stated. 

(3) The export amount for the target year is set appropriately taking into account the current and new trade flows.

(4) In order to formulate plans, verify plans after their formulation, and review the formulated plans, a system has been established to implement the PDCA cycle in collaboration with consulting companies, JETRO, export experts, and other parties with knowledge of the export business.

Main items to be entered

There are two types of export business plans: Form 1 and Form 2 for public announcement. In Form 1, after entering the project outline and implementation period, you should enter the status of understanding the needs for export (background and reasons).

In the "Background" section, you should write down the characteristics of the export item. You should also include the following three items: "Export efforts to date" and "Needs and regulations of the target country."

Next, you need to fill in the issues and initiatives. Here, you should describe initiatives to improve production, manufacturing, processing, or distribution in order to expand exports.

Other items to be included include the current status of trade and future developments in trade, the business organizational chart and collaboration structure chart, the current status and goals of the agricultural, forestry, and fishery products and food to be exported, financial plans, and any other special notes.

Notes for each item

Depending on the export item, the content of the initiative needs to be considered, taking into account whether hygiene standards and quarantine criteria are being observed, and whether differentiation is being made from competing countries.
The points to note vary depending on the export item, so we have listed the points to note for each item below.

Beef, pork, chicken, eggs, milk and dairy products

Meat processing facilities must meet the hygiene standards and other requirements of the export destination country.
In the case of export business plans of production areas and businesses (consortiums) selected for the export production area list, they must be initiatives that involve collaboration between producers, meat processing facilities, and other export businesses to promote exports consistently from production to export. They must also set appropriate export volume targets in the export business plans, taking into account the export volume targets by country based on the implementation strategy.

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It is necessary to confirm whether the producers and exporters are working together. In "2. Understanding of export needs," enter the needs of the export destination country or region, as well as the details of regulations that require compliance, such as standards for pesticide residues.

 In the section "3. Issues and Initiatives," you must fill in the following points clearly.

 - Current values and target values for organic cultivation and the planting area, production volume, shipping period, and shipping volume for export by national pest control system, and the thinking behind the target values (for example, have you ever been asked by a business partner to produce a minimum lot of ○ t?) 

- The direction and challenges of how to achieve the goal. 

・If there is no export business partner at present, will you export directly or consider partnering with an export business partner in the future? How will you develop sales channels and lead to exports? Please also write in a clear schedule. 

In the section “5. Business organizational chart and collaboration chart,” please include a chart of the collaboration chart clearly indicating whether or not roles are divided between production areas, wholesalers, exporters, etc., and the initiatives that each production area and business will undertake.

Seafood (yellowtail, sea bream, scallops, pearls)

Refer to Appendix 1 of the Implementation Strategy (Export Targets by Product) to clarify the issues and responses your export business faces. In addition to the needs of the export destination country/region, fill in the regulations of the export destination country/region, such as food hygiene standards and drug residue standards, and responses to those regulations to the extent that you are aware of them. 

If the export business plan is formulated by a producer, the plan will not only include the current production volume, but also the current export performance through business partners, etc.
If the formulating body is a processing, distribution, or exporting business, it is necessary to grasp and enter the current production volume and the production volume for export through the producers who are the suppliers. In addition, the following points must be noted.

- Are the target items subject to export bans or restrictions under treaties or the laws and regulations of the export destination country, and are there optimistic predictions that exports will soon be allowed? 

- Has consideration been given to sudden risks to the export business, such as a sudden drop in export volume due to changes in the relationship between Japan and export destination countries or strengthening of food safety regulations by export destination countries? 

・When using images, etc., we will take into consideration copyright and other rights, and will check for compliance with the published export business plan (Form 2).

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This time, we brought you "What is an export business plan for agricultural, forestry, and fishery products or food? A look into export strategies."

STANDAGE uses its own trade cloud service to provide "Digitrad", a service that can "completely" handle trade for small and medium-sized enterprises. "Digitrad" allows you to develop overseas sales channels at low cost thanks to the application of IT introduction subsidies. We can also handle small-scale, low-value trade and domestic purchases that cannot be done by large trading companies, so please feel free to contact us.

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