Japan regulates specified invasive alien species (特定外来生物) under the Invasive Alien Species Act
Japan's Invasive Alien Species Act (外来生物法 — Act on the Prevention of Adverse Effects of Alien Species on Ecosystems, etc.) designates 特定外来生物 (specified invasive alien species) as the regulatory target. The Ministry of the Environment (環境省) overview states the Act's selection covers alien species that are highly invasive and harm — or may harm — Japan's ecosystems, human life/body, and agriculture/forestry/fisheries, and that both foreign-origin and domestic-origin alien species are covered. This is a biodiversity / invasive-species statute: exotic animals are governed here, on a track separate from any pet-food or nutrition standard.
The text below is reproduced verbatim from the first-hand MOE source, with English translation.
> 外来生物法に基づく規制の対象となる特定外来生物・未判定外来生物に加えて、同法の規制対象以外の外来種も幅広く選定 > *(In addition to the specified invasive alien species [特定外来生物] and unassessed alien species [未判定外来生物] that are regulatory targets under the Invasive Alien Species Act, alien species outside the Act's regulatory scope are also broadly selected — for the advisory list.)*
> 侵略性が高く、我が国の生態系、人の生命・身体、農林水産業に被害を及ぼす又はそのおそれのある外来種を選定 > *(Alien species that are highly invasive and cause, or may cause, harm to our country's ecosystems, human life and body, and agriculture/forestry/fisheries are selected.)*
> 国外由来の外来種だけでなく、国内由来の外来種も対象 > *(Not only foreign-origin alien species, but also domestically-originating alien species are covered.)*
Source: pdf-raw/japan-2026/env_moe_gairai_list_overview.txt (first-hand MOE 外来生物法 overview, tag-stripped; retrieved 2026-07-28 via relay).
Claims (verified C1 substrings of source_file)
外来生物法に基づく規制の対象となる特定外来生物・未判定外来生物に加えて、同法の規制対象以外の外来種も幅広く選定侵略性が高く、我が国の生態系、人の生命・身体、農林水産業に被害を及ぼす又はそのおそれのある外来種を選定国外由来の外来種だけでなく、国内由来の外来種も対象
Analysis (not a C1 claim — derived from the verbatim above)
This confirms Japan's separate exotic-animal regulatory track: exotic animals that pose an invasive-risk are addressed under a biodiversity/invasive-species law, not under a pet-feed or nutrition standard. It is consistent with the gap established across the EXOTIC-A/B/C batches — AAFCO and FEDIAF build their nutrient frameworks on a dog/cat axis, and China's pet-feed labeling rules (MOA Announcement No. 20, 2018) likewise address only the 犬/猫 (dog/cat) species axis. No jurisdiction examined so far covers exotic-pet *feeding* under a dedicated pet-feed standard; where an exotic animal is regulated, it is the animal itself (possession/import/invasive-risk) that is governed, not its feed.
Honest-pending (not fabricated): at fetch time (2026-07-28, via Tokyo relay) the enumerated 特定外来生物 species list (MOE list/list.pdf) returned a 404, and the Act text on e-Gov (elaws.e-gov.go.jp) was WAF/404-blocked. Therefore (a) the specific designated animal species (the 特定動物 subset) and (b) the exact possession/import-restriction wording in the Act are not claimed here and remain pending until a first-hand source is reachable.