In a letter dated September 26, 2025, Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and National Tax Agency (NTA) informed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) of their decision to recognize the U.S. system for the certification of organic alcoholic beverages as equivalent to Japan’s agricultural standards.
In response, through a letter dated September 30, 2025, USDA and USTR confirmed the understanding, establishing an equivalence arrangement for organic alcoholic beverages. This arrangement allows products certified as organic in one of the two countries to be marketed as such in the other.
Photo Credit: Freepik
Source: USDA