Under the Pet Food Safety Act, businesses — corporate or individual — that manufacture or import pet food must file a notification before starting (開始前に届出が必要), to the MAFF regional agricultural administration office (農林水産省地方農政局等) covering the prefecture of the principal office.
Required documents: notification form (届出書, one original plus one copy if a duplicate is needed) and a document certifying that the operator exists (e.g. certificate of registered matters / 登記簿謄本). Online filing via eMAFF is available.
Changes must be notified to the nearest regional office within 30 days (３０日以内に), as must business discontinuation (事業の廃止) and succession (事業の承継). Examples: change of corporate representative or office location, relocation of a manufacturing site, change of storage facility, starting manufacture/import for export.
Books: manufacturers, importers and sellers (retail excluded / 小売の場合は除く) must record the names and quantities of pet food in books (帳簿).
Oversight matrix under the Act (notification / books / report collection & on-site inspection): manufacturers (製造業者) and importers (輸入業者) ○/○/○; wholesalers selling to businesses (卸売業者) ×/○/○; retailers selling to consumers (小売業者) ×/×/○.
Scale: 10,169 notified manufacturers and 1,039 importers (製造業者10,169者、輸入業者1,039者, as of end-March 2025 / 令和７年３月末時点); annual shipments about 568,000 t (約56.8万トン, 令和５年度：2024年度), of which domestic ≈56% and imported ≈44% (国産品が約56％、輸入品が約44％).