The certification procedures for imported automobiles in Japan have three systems:“Type Designation,”“Type Notification,”and the “Preferential Handling Procedure for imported motor vechicles.”

1.Type Designation System

This system applies to vehicles, mainly passenger cars, sold in large quantities. The authorities examine sample vehicles and documents in advance as well as maker's quality control system designed to ensure uniform quality of the vehicles. Because of such advance examinations, the importer's own inspection at the time of completion is deemed enough to waive the presentation of actual vehicles for further inspections.
The government has further simplified and streamlined the system in response to European and American demands, adopting such measures as dispatching examiners to overseas automobile manufacturers and adding test items that could be conducted at designated vehicle testing organizations in other countries.
Moreover, the Japanese government acceded to the 1958 UN/ECE Agreement in November 1998, in response to the increase in the international trade of automotive devices and the progress of standardization in the domestic market.　
The agreement aims to harmonize and mutually recognize the foreign standards. As a result, the type designation system of devices was introduced. Under this system, inspection of the actual devices is waived in the examination procedure for the devices that had obtained type designation in Japan.

2.Type Notification System

This system has been utilized widely for large trucks and buses, for which a variety of specifications is required. Under this system, sample vehicles are submitted for inspection. When initial inspection is conducted for other vehicles, uniformity of each vehicle with the sample vehicle is verified, and examination of quality control systems is eliminated accordingly.

3.Preferential Handling Procedure for Imported Motor Vehicles(P.H.P.)

The Preferential Handling Procedure for imported motor vehicles is designed to promote imports of vehicles and applies only to imported vehicles which are sold in small quantities in Japan.
This system follows an even simpler procedure than the Type Designation System, because the requirement to submit sample vehicles for each imported type has been omitted, and the documentation has been simplified.
The number of vehicles that may be sold according to this procedure is limited to 2,000 units per year and per vehicle type. If an early application of the Type Designation System is envisaged in future, the limit is lifted to 3,000.