Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act

On finding that, if residents were to unrestrictedly conduct specified capital transactions (meaning any capital transaction as stated in Article 20, item (ii) (including anything that, pursuant to item (xii) of that Article, Cabinet Order prescribes as a transaction equivalent to what is referred to in item (ii) of that Article) prescribed by Cabinet Order as a transaction or action that a person that imports or exports goods conducts in direct association with the importing or exporting of goods, or prescribed by Cabinet Order as a transaction or action associated with the transfer of a mining right, industrial property right, or other right equivalent thereto, or associated with the establishment of the right to use these rights (excluding anything prescribed by Cabinet Order as a transaction whose purpose is the settlement of a short-term international commercial transaction); the same applies hereinafter), it would prevent Japan from faithfully performing its obligations under a treaty or other international agreement it has concluded or would cause a situation that would prevent Japan from contributing to international efforts towards international peace, thereby making it difficult to achieve the purpose of this Act, or if a cabinet decision as referred to in Article 10, paragraph (1) has been reached, the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, pursuant to Cabinet Order, may make it obligatory for residents seeking to conduct such a specified capital transaction to get permission to conduct it.

Beyond as prescribed in the preceding paragraph, on finding that, if residents were to unrestrictedly conduct specified capital transactions, it would cause one of the situations stated in the items of Article 21, paragraph (2) to arise, thereby making it difficult to achieve the purpose of this Act, the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, pursuant to Cabinet Order, may make it obligatory for residents seeking to conduct such a specified capital transaction to get permission to conduct it.

If it has been made obligatory for persons to get permission for a specified capital transaction pursuant to both paragraph (1) and the preceding paragraph, a person seeking to conduct such a transaction may file a combined application for the permissions under those paragraphs, pursuant to Cabinet Order. In such a case, the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry is to decide whether to give permission while also taking into consideration whether the specified capital transaction under the application would actually cause one of the situations that forms the basis for the minister's having made it obligatory for persons to get permission for such a transaction.

If the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry has made it obligatory to get permission pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article, and the minister finds that a person that has conducted a specified capital transaction which it has been made obligatory to get permission for, without getting that permission, is likely to once again conduct a specified capital transaction that it has been made obligatory to get permission for pursuant to the provisions of that paragraph without getting that permission, the minister may prohibit the person from fully or partially conducting specified capital transactions, or, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order, make it obligatory for that person to get permission to conduct specified capital transactions, but only during a period of up to one year.

A resident or non-resident that intends to conduct a transaction for the purpose of providing, in a specific foreign country (hereinafter referred to as a "specified country"), technology for designing, manufacturing, or using a specified type of goods prescribed by Cabinet Order as being found to interfere with the maintenance of international peace and security (hereinafter referred to as "specified technology"), or a resident that intends to conduct a transaction for the purpose of providing specified technology to a non-resident of a specified country, must obtain the permission of the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry for that transaction, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order.

If the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry finds it to be necessary to do so in order to ensure the reliable implementation of the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the Minister, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order, may make it obligatory for residents or non-residents seeking to conduct a transaction that is meant to provide specified technology in a foreign country other than a specified country, or residents seeking to conduct a transaction that is meant to provide specified technology to a non-resident from a foreign country other than a specified country to get permission for the transaction.

In the cases stated in the following items, the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order, may make it obligatory for persons seeking to take the action prescribed in that item to get permission for that action:

if the Minister finds it to be necessary to do so in order to ensure the reliable implementation of the provisions of paragraph (1): any of the following acts in connection with the transaction referred to in that paragraph:

exporting a document, drawing, or recording medium containing information on the specified technology (hereinafter referred to as a "document, drawing, or recording medium containing specified information") to a specified country; or

transmitting information concerning the specified technology by means of telecommunications (meaning the telecommunications prescribed in Article 2, item (i) of the Telecommunications Business Act (Act No. 86 of 1984); the same applies hereinafter) that are intended to be received in the specified country (limited to the transmission from telecommunications facilities (meaning the telecommunications facilities prescribed in item (ii) of that Article) that are located in Japan; the same applies hereinafter); and

if the minister finds it to be necessary to do so in order to ensure the reliable implementation of the provisions of the preceding paragraph:any of the following acts in connection with the transaction referred to in that paragraph:

exporting the document, drawing, or recording medium containing specified information, to a foreign country other than the specified country; or

transmitting information concerning the specified technology by means of telecommunications that are intended to be received in a foreign country other than the specified country.

If a resident seeks to conduct a transaction with a non-resident that is connected with the buying and selling, leasing, or donation of goods; that involves the transfer of goods between foreign countries; and that Cabinet Order prescribes as being found to interfere with the maintenance of international peace and security, the resident must get the permission of the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry for that transaction, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order.

If a resident seeks to conduct a service transaction (meaning a transaction that is meant to provide labor or a benefit; the same applies hereinafter) that constitutes the processing of minerals or anything Cabinet Order prescribes as similar to them (excluding anything that falls under the category of the entry into, renewal, or modification of a technology introduction contract as prescribed in Article 30, paragraph (1)), the resident must get the permission of the competent minister for that transaction, pursuant to Cabinet Order; provided, however, that this does not apply to a service transaction which falls within the category of service transaction for which it has been made obligatory to get the permission of the competent minister, pursuant to the provisions of the following paragraph.

On finding that, if residents were to unrestrictedly conduct service transactions (excluding service transactions linked to specified technology and those falling under the category of the entry into, renewal, or modification of a technology introduction contract as prescribed in Article 30, paragraph (1)) or transactions that are connected with the buying and selling, leasing, or donation of goods and that involve the transfer of goods between foreign countries (excluding those as prescribed in paragraph (4)) (hereinafter referred to as a "service transaction or transaction involving the transfer of goods between foreign countries") with non-residents, it would prevent Japan from faithfully performing its obligations under a treaty or other international agreement it has concluded or would cause a situation that would prevent Japan from contributing to international efforts towards international peace, thereby making it difficult to achieve the purpose of this Act, or if a cabinet decision as referred to in Article 10, paragraph (1) has been reached, the competent minister, pursuant to Cabinet Order, may make it obligatory for a resident seeking to conduct a service transaction or transaction involving the transfer of goods between foreign countries to get permission to conduct it.

The Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry may prohibit a person that has conducted a transaction prescribed in paragraph (1) of the preceding Article without getting the permission under that paragraph, from conducting transactions that are meant to provide technology for designing, manufacturing, or using goods (hereinafter referred to as "technology for designing, manufacturing, or using goods" in this paragraph and the following paragraph) in a foreign country or to a non-resident; from exporting a document, drawing, or recording medium containing information about technology for designing, manufacturing, or using goods (referred to as "exporting a document, drawing, or recording medium containing technological information" in the following paragraph and Article 70, paragraph (1), item (xix)) in connection with such a transaction; from using telecommunications that are meant to be received in a foreign country to transmit information concerning technology for designing, manufacturing, or using goods (referred to as "transmission of technological information outside Japan" in the following paragraph and that item); or from exporting a specified type of goods involving specified technology, but only during a period of up to three years.

If persons have been placed under the obligation to get the permission of the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (2) or (3) of the preceding Article, the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry may prohibit a person that has undertaken a transaction or action provided for in one of those paragraphs without getting that permission, from conducting a transaction that is meant to provide technology for designing, manufacturing, or using goods in a foreign country or to a non-resident; from exporting a document, drawing, or recording medium containing technological information in connection with such a transaction; from transmitting technological information outside Japan in connection with such a transaction; or from exporting a specified type of goods involving specified technology, but only during a period of up to one year.

The Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry may prohibit a person that has conducted a transaction prescribed in paragraph (4) of the preceding Article without getting the permission referred to in that paragraph, from conducting a transaction that is connected with the buying and selling, leasing, or donation of goods and that involves the transfer of goods between foreign countries with a non-resident, or from exporting goods, but only during a period of up to three years.

If the competent minister has made it obligatory to get permission to conduct a service transaction or transaction involving the transfer of goods between foreign countries pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (6) of the preceding Article, and the minister finds that a person that has conducted a service transaction or transaction involving the transfer of goods between foreign countries which it has been made obligatory to get permission for, without getting that permission, is likely to once again conduct a service transaction or transaction involving the transfer of goods between foreign countries that it has been made obligatory to get permission for pursuant to the provisions of that paragraph without getting that permission, the minister may prohibit the person from fully or partially conducting service transactions or transactions involving the transfer of goods between foreign countries, or, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order, make it obligatory for that person to get permission to conduct service transactions or transactions involving the transfer of goods between foreign countries, but only during a period of up to one year.