I’m planning to bring a few months medication into the country and will get the necessary certificate from the airport before.
But I’ve never actually had to declare anything at customs. So in this case do I need to go to the declare side or do I just go to “nothing to declare” but have my paperwork on hand if they ask?
I don’t want to do the wrong thing but obviously don’t want to make work for myself if I don’t have to by having to unpack my bags.
2 comments
> So in this case do I need to go to the declare side or do I just go to “nothing to declare” but have my paperwork on hand if they ask?
Go to the declare side. You *do* have something to declare, so you should declare it. If you want to make life easier for yourself, pack your medication in such a way that it’s easy to access at customs. Consider taking it in your carry-on luggage, for instance. It only takes a couple minutes, then you never have to worry about your medication being questioned whilst in Japan.
If you go through “nothing to declare”, and they stop you, and then find import-controlled medication on you, they will treat you like someone with something to hide even if you have your import certificate. That’s a very quick way to have customs search all your luggage. Not saying that’s exactly what would happen, but it would be a reasonable enough expectation.
On the other hand, you could enter the country without being stopped and searched, but then you have an import certificate that hasn’t been stamped by customs at the airport, which means it’s not actually sufficient legal proof that you have this medication in your possession legally whilst in Japan (since customs didn’t verify it).
Just declare it.
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