EXCLUSIVE: Duty-Free Shops Eyed for Airport Immigration Areas in Japan

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Tokyo, Aug. 28 (Jiji Press)--The transport ministry will call for a system that will allow duty-free shops to be set up in immigration areas of international airports in Japan, in its tax system reform requests for fiscal 2017, according to informed sources. The new shops will be aimed at tapping demand from Japanese who come back from abroad and foreign visitors arriving in Japan, the sources told Jiji Press. The ministry will act on requests from the operators of Sendai International Airport in the northeastern prefecture of Miyagi, which was transferred to private management in July, and Kansai International Airport in the western prefecture of Osaka. Currently, duty-free products can be sold only in departure areas of international airports and on airplanes. Duty-free shops in immigration areas have not been permitted, reflecting the view that it would be unfair if only people who return from overseas trips have opportunities to buy products used in Japan free of duties. But international airfares have been dropping since around the 1980s and budget carriers' entry to the Japanese market in recent years has made overseas trips even more reasonable. The ministry judged that overseas travel has become common in Japan and that duty-free shops in immigration areas would no longer cause a sense of unfairness among the public, according to the sources. The ministry rather sees the merit of additional spending at Japanese airports by people who return from overseas trips, the sources said. Sendai International Airport Co. operates its runways and passenger terminal building in an integrated manner after the July privatization of the airport. It aims to increase earnings by boosting sales of products at the terminal building and reduce landing fees to encourage airlines to open new flights using the airport. The operator hopes duty-free shops in the immigration area will contribute to pushing up sales at the building.Copyright JIJI PRESS LTD.
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Posted In: EconomicsJapan
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