How to Import Clothing into Japan

If you run a Japanese brand and are importing clothing for the first time, the number to plan around is the landed cost: what has left your account by the time the cartons reach your warehouse in Tokyo, Osaka or Fukuoka. For knitwear made in Bangladesh the duty line is zero today, which leaves one tax, one origin certificate and one labelling law to get right. This guide covers T-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts and joggers, the cotton knit garments of HS chapter 61, in the order you will meet them. Every rule and figure was checked on 17 October 2026 against the Japanese government sources listed at the end.

The short version

• Duty: 0% today. Bangladesh is a least developed country (LDC), and Japan's tariff lists cotton knit tees, sweatshirts and trousers as Free in its LDC column.
• The condition: the garment must be made in Bangladesh from fabric, and the importer normally presents a GSP certificate of origin (Form A). Consignments worth ¥200,000 or less in customs value need no certificate.
• Consumption tax: 10% (7.8% national plus 2.2% local), charged on the customs value including freight and insurance, plus any duty. A taxable business that files the import declaration can normally credit it.
• Labels: fibre composition, JIS L 0001 care symbols and the name and address or phone number of whoever takes responsibility for the label, under the Household Goods Quality Labeling Act.
• The EPA: Japan and Bangladesh signed an Economic Partnership Agreement on 6 February 2026. It is not yet in force, so no shipment can use it.

How much duty do you pay on clothing from Bangladesh?

None, when the shipment claims Japan's LDC preference. Japan Customs' tariff schedule for chapter 61 (8 August 2026 edition, the latest published when we checked) shows Free in the LDC column for every line below. The same schedule has no ordinary GSP rate for these lines, so without the LDC preference the standard rate applies:

For the UK, the EU, the United States, Canada and Australia, our duty guide sets out the same figures market by market.

The origin rule for knitwear

To claim the LDC rate the garment has to originate in Bangladesh. Japan Customs' rules of origin page for knitted apparel states that chapter 61 products qualify when they are manufactured from fabrics, a rule that has applied since 1 April 2015. Before that date the garment had to be made from yarn. In practice this is a single-stage test: cutting and sewing the fabric into a garment in Bangladesh is the work that confers origin, which is what a cut-and-sew knitwear floor like ours does. Japan also expects the goods to be shipped directly to Japan. If they are transshipped through a third country, for example at a hub port, a through bill of lading or other relevant documents are needed as well.

The certificate that earns the zero: Form A

Japan uses the GSP certificate titled Combined Declaration and Certificate of Origin, Form A. According to Japan Customs, it is issued at export by the customs authorities or another officially authorised body in the exporting country, on the exporter's declaration. It is valid for one year from issue and is normally submitted with the import declaration. No certificate is needed for a consignment whose total customs value is ¥200,000 or less. The certificate comes from the factory side, so ask for it before the goods leave Bangladesh, not when they are already at the port in Japan.

What happens when Bangladesh leaves the LDC list?

Bangladesh is scheduled to graduate from the UN list of least developed countries on 24 November 2026. In February 2026 it asked the UN to extend its preparatory period before graduation. The UN Committee for Development Policy received the request on 18 February and concluded that an extension would be appropriate if Bangladesh makes significant progress on domestic reforms, and on 21 July ECOSOC recommended that the General Assembly decide before 24 November 2026. When we checked the UN LDC Portal on 17 October 2026, that decision was still pending.

Graduation does not end Japan's zero rate overnight. Japan's FY2025 tariff reform, set out by the Ministry of Finance, extended LDC treatment after graduation from one year to up to three years, ending on a date the Finance Minister sets under Article 25 of the Cabinet Order for the Temporary Tariff Measures Act. Japan Customs' list of preference beneficiaries from April 2027, published on 31 August 2026, still marks Bangladesh as an LDC beneficiary. Once LDC treatment does end, these garments would pay the standard rates in the table above, unless the EPA is in force by then. Our LDC graduation guide sets out the scenarios market by market.

The Japan–Bangladesh EPA: signed, not yet in force

Japan and Bangladesh signed an Economic Partnership Agreement in Tokyo on 6 February 2026, as METI and Japan Customs announced that day. Signing is not entry into force. As of 17 October 2026 Japan Customs had published no entry-into-force notice, its EPA status page lists the agreement as signed, and its 8 August 2026 tariff schedule has no Bangladesh column. A bilateral treaty does not lapse when a country leaves the LDC list, which is why it matters for the years after graduation. Until Japan announces a start date, every shipment goes in under the LDC preference.

Consumption tax at import

Consumption tax is charged when goods are taken out of the bonded area, at 10%: 7.8% national consumption tax and 2.2% local consumption tax, the local part being 22/78 of the national amount (Japan Customs). The National Tax Agency (Tax Answer 6563) sets the base as the customs value, which it describes as the CIF price, plus customs duty and any other excise. Japan's customs value adds transport and insurance to the port of import (Customs Answer 1403), and foreign-currency amounts are converted at the weekly rate Customs publishes (Customs Answer 1406).

The person who takes the goods out of the bonded area owes the tax and pays it by the time of collection, although an importer can apply for up to three months' deferral if it provides security. A taxable business that filed the import declaration can credit the tax as input tax. The National Tax Agency has confirmed that the credit belongs to the declarant, not to an agent that paid on its behalf (NTA Q&A). That point decides how a DDP order should be set up, below.

A worked example

Take 500 printed cotton T-shirts at US$6.00 each, US$3,000 in total, with US$500 of freight and insurance to Japan.

The landed-cost calculator runs the same sum for any quantity and price.

What has to be on the label

Clothing sold in Japan is covered by the Household Goods Quality Labeling Act (家庭用品品質表示法) and its Textile Goods Quality Labeling Rules, administered by the Consumer Affairs Agency. The current version took effect on 1 December 2016, when care labelling moved to the symbols of JIS L 0001. For the garments in this guide the label needs:

• Fibre composition: every fibre with its percentage by mass, using the designated terms. Cotton may be written 綿, コットン or COTTON, and polyester ポリエステル or POLYESTER, but elastane has only the Japanese term ポリウレタン.
• Care symbols under JIS L 0001, for shirts, pullovers and other sweaters, and trousers. A T-shirt of a single fibre with no print is classed as underwear: it needs the fibre composition, but care symbols are not compulsory. A printed or blended T-shirt needs both.
• The labeller's name, and address or phone number, to show who is responsible for the label. The rules allow that to be the manufacturer, the seller or a labelling business, so for your own brand it is normally your company.

The Consumer Affairs Agency's product guides give the definitions garment by garment. Our guide to care labels and wash symbols explains the symbols themselves. We sew your approved label in during production, so send the Japanese wording with the tech pack; the labels section of our tech pack template has room for it.

Country of origin on the label

The textile rules do not list origin among the required items. The rule that matters is a notice under the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations (景品表示法). Its notice on country of origin treats as misleading an imported product whose labelling is wholly or mainly in Japanese, where consumers cannot tell which country made it. Its detailed rules define origin for outerwear, underwear and nightwear as the country where the garment was sewn (縫製). A Japanese-language label on a garment sewn in Narayanganj therefore needs a clear 原産国 バングラデシュ, or Made in Bangladesh. Japan Customs gives an example: a T-shirt carrying a Japanese company's name and address is not a misleading origin mark if the label states the country where it was made.

How customs clearance works

The goods are declared to the customs office for the bonded area where they are held. Customs checks the documents, inspects where needed, confirms the duty and tax are paid and grants an import permit, after which the goods are free to move (Customs Answer 1101). The importer can file, but most use a customs broker (通関業者) licensed by the Minister of Finance, who lodges the declaration electronically through NACCS, Japan's cargo and port system. Japan Customs lists the documents in Customs Answer 1107:

• Commercial invoice and packing list.
• Bill of lading or sea waybill, or an air waybill for air freight.
• Freight and insurance statements, and the contract or price list where relevant.
• The Form A certificate of origin, to claim the LDC rate.

DDP into Japan: who is the importer?

Under DDP (delivered duty paid) the seller arranges freight, clearance, duty and tax and you receive one landed figure. In Japan the question to settle first is whose name goes on the import declaration. The declarant owes the consumption tax and is the only party that can credit it. Where a Japanese buyer purchases the goods, the consignee named on the invoice normally files. If an overseas company is to be the importer instead, it must appoint a Japan-resident Customs Procedure Agent (税関事務管理人) and notify customs (Customs Answer 9601), and since 1 October 2023 Japan Customs has set out more clearly who counts as the importer making the declaration. So a DDP quote should state who the importer is. If it is you, your broker files in your name and you credit the tax. If it is the seller, you cannot credit it, and the price should reflect that. Ask us, or any supplier, to put this in writing before you confirm the order.

How long it takes

Sampling takes about 10 days. Bulk production takes 40 to 50 days after you approve the pre-production sample. Freight comes on top: air is quicker than sea, and the transit time depends on the route and the port, so ask the forwarder for a door-to-door estimate. If the ship calls at a hub port on the way, keep the through bill of lading with the Form A. The launch-date calculator works back from your sell-in date.

Before your first order

• Ask your broker to confirm the HS line for each style.
• Confirm that the garment is cut and sewn in Bangladesh and that a Form A will travel with the shipment.
• Agree who is the importer on the declaration, and therefore who credits the consumption tax.
• Approve the label before production: fibre terms, JIS L 0001 symbols, your name and address or phone, and the country of origin.
• Check the EPA and graduation position again before each shipment.

We make T-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts and joggers for Japanese brands from 150 pieces per style and per colour, with organic cotton, made in our GOTS-certified facility (RSC 9687), and we quote DDP worldwide. Our floor is at Plot-A-132, Road No. 02, BSCIC Industrial Area, Panchabati, Narayanganj 1420, Bangladesh. See clothing manufacturing for Japanese brands (日本語), read our FAQ, or send us your brief and we will reply within one business day.