{"title": "Pre-Shipment Inspections for Japanese Cars: JEVIC, QISJ, EAA and Radiation Certificates", "body": "# Pre-Shipment Inspections for Japanese Cars: JEVIC, QISJ, EAA and Radiation Certificates\n\nBuying a used car from Japan involves more paperwork than most first-time importers expect. The auction sheet tells you about condition. But before the car can leave the port — and often before it can clear customs at the other end — it may need a pre-shipment inspection certificate, and sometimes a separate radiation check certificate.\n\nHere's what those documents are, how they differ, and how to work out which ones your destination actually requires.\n\n## Why the inspection has to happen in Japan\n\nMany importing countries run a Pre-Export Verification of Conformity (PVoC) programme, or something similar under a different name. The aim is to screen out unsafe, stolen, illegally modified or over-age vehicles before they reach the border. Rejecting a car at the destination port is slow and expensive — storage and demurrage charges start the day it lands.\n\nThat's the key point for buyers: the certificate is issued for one specific chassis number, in Japan, before the vessel sails. If the paperwork is missing on arrival, you usually can't fix it from your end.\n\n## What a pre-shipment inspection covers\n\nEvery inspection body works slightly differently, but a typical check includes:\n\n- Chassis/VIN verification against the export documents\n- Odometer reading and mileage verification\n- Body, paint and accident-repair assessment\n- Engine, transmission and undercarriage condition\n- Brakes, steering, suspension, lights, seat belts and tyres\n- Interior condition and accessories\n- A pass/fail judgment against the destination's rules, such as age limits, emissions or right-hand drive requirements\n\nA road test, and where required a radiation or emissions test, may be added.\n\n## JEVIC, QISJ and EAA: three names, one job\n\nNone of these are government agencies. They are independent inspection companies based in Japan that carry out the physical check and issue the certificate:\n\n- JEVIC — Japan Export Vehicle Inspection Center, one of the longest-established names in used-vehicle export inspection.\n- QISJ — Quality Inspection Services Japan, best known as the inspection body appointed for used vehicles under Kenya's KEBS conformity programme.\n- EAA — another Japan-based inspection provider whose certificates are accepted for a number of export markets.\n\nThe crucial detail is that each destination's standards bureau decides which bodies it accepts — and that list gets revised. A JEVIC inspection certificate on a Japanese car is exactly the right document for some countries and irrelevant for others. So the useful question isn't "which inspection is best?" but "which certificate does my destination's customs authority currently recognise?"\n\n## The radiation check certificate\n\nThe radiation certificate is separate from the mechanical inspection. It records the result of a radiation test on the vehicle, confirming readings are at normal background levels. It became a common request after the 2011 earthquake and Fukushima incident, when overseas buyers wanted proof that a car hadn't been sourced from an affected area.\n\nSome destinations — Kenya and Uganda are the best-known — ask for it alongside the conformity inspection. Buyers elsewhere often request one voluntarily for peace of mind, and it is relatively inexpensive to add.\n\n## Which countries need which\n\nRules change, and appointments of inspection bodies change with them. Treat the table below as a starting point and confirm the current requirement with your importer or the destination's standards bureau before you commit to a vehicle.\n\n| Destination | What's normally expected |\n| --- | --- |\n| Kenya | QISJ pre-shipment inspection under the KEBS programme, plus a radiation certificate |\n| Tanzania | Pre-shipment inspection under the TBS conformity programme |\n| Uganda | Inspection under the UNBS programme; radiation certificate often requested |\n| Zambia | Inspection under the ZABS programme |\n| Zimbabwe | Roadworthiness or compliance inspection by an approved Japan-based body |\n| Malawi | Inspection under the MBS programme |\n| Other African markets | Varies widely; some expect an inspection even where it isn't strictly enforced |\n| New Zealand | Pre-shipment inspection by an organisation approved under New Zealand's own scheme |\n| UK, EU, Gulf, most of Asia | Usually no Japanese-side inspection; roadworthiness and emissions are checked at destination |\n\n## How it works in practice\n\n1. You choose a car and confirm what your destination requires.\n2. Your exporter books it into the inspection centre in Japan, often within a few days.\n3. The vehicle is inspected and, if needed, radiation-tested.\n4. The certificate and radiation report are issued with the chassis number, scanned to you, and sent with the shipping documents.\n5. The car is loaded and shipped.\n\nIf a car fails, the exporter can often repair and re-submit it, or you can switch to another unit. That's one reason to build inspection time into your schedule rather than booking a vessel the same week you buy.\n\n## Quick buyer checklist\n\n- Confirm which certificate your country accepts before bidding.\n- Check the chassis number on the certificate matches the car and the invoice, character for character.\n- Ask whether the inspection fee is included in the quoted price.\n- Keep digital copies of everything — customs, insurers and local registration offices all want them.\n\nA pre-shipment inspection isn't a guarantee that nothing will ever go wrong, but it is the document that gets your car released at the port — and it's about the cheapest insurance you'll ever buy on a used vehicle. An experienced exporter such as GULJI TRADERS should be able to tell you, before you pay a deposit, exactly which inspections and certificates your destination requires.", "seoTitle": "JEVIC, QISJ, EAA & Radiation Certificates for Japan Car Exports", "seoDescription": "Which pre-shipment inspection does your country require for a Japanese used car? JEVIC, QISJ,
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