The GREEN×EXPO 2027 venue is a bonded area: Yokohama Customs has permitted it as a bonded exhibition area. Exhibits brought in from abroad can be declared to customs and, once approved, displayed at the venue without customs duty or consumption tax being paid. Below is what the arrangement allows, and what happens to the exhibits after closing, according to Yokohama Customs and the Customs and Tariff Bureau of the Ministry of Finance.
Quick reference
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Name of the arrangement | Bonded exhibition area (Customs Act, Article 62-2) |
| Permitting authority | Yokohama Customs (headquarters) |
| Permit period | 1 March 2026 to 31 March 2028 |
| Venue covered | The Expo area in Kamikawai-cho, Asahi Ward, and Seya-cho, Seya Ward, Yokohama |
| Goods that may be held | Foreign goods for exhibition (building materials, interior materials, exhibits, display equipment, broadcasting equipment and so on) |
| After the Expo | As a rule, shipped back abroad (re-exported) |
The permit period, location and categories of goods are from the list of bonded areas that Yokohama Customs publishes (as of 1 April 2026).
1. A bonded exhibition area is a bonded area where duty is held back
Goods arriving from abroad are “foreign goods” until they are cleared for import, and cannot be used freely in Japan until duty and consumption tax are paid and import permission granted. According to the Japan Customs “Customs Answer” page, the bonded system is what allows such goods to be stored, displayed, processed, manufactured or transported while still classed as foreign goods. It has two parts: bonded areas and bonded transportation.
There are several kinds of bonded area. A designated bonded area allows storage for one month; a bonded warehouse or a bonded factory allows two years, with extensions possible. A bonded exhibition area is different: it is a place where foreign goods can be displayed and used, and the Director-General of Customs sets the storage period case by case. What sets it apart is that it is permitted for a fixed-term event such as an exposition or a trade fair.
According to JETRO’s trade and investment Q&A, if the venue holds a permit under Article 62-2, a participant files a “declaration for exhibition, etc.” (Customs Form C-3340) with the Director-General of Customs and, once it is approved, can bring exhibits into the venue as foreign goods.
2. What the official documents confirm about the Yokohama Customs permit
The list of bonded areas published by Yokohama Customs, as of 1 April 2026, includes a bonded exhibition area named “2027 International Horticultural Expo.” The permit runs from 1 March 2026 to 31 March 2028. The location is given as lots in Kamikawai-cho, Asahi Ward, and in Seya-cho and Nakayashiki 3-chome, Seya Ward. The goods are listed in two categories: “foreign goods for exhibition (broadcasting equipment and devices, related supplies, decorative materials, etc.)” and “foreign goods for exhibition (building materials, interior materials, exhibits, display equipment, etc.).”
The GREEN×EXPO Association, in its documents for the 16th general meeting on 22 June 2026, also reports that it has obtained the permit making the venue a bonded exhibition area, so that official participants can bring in their exhibits. Neither the meeting documents nor the Yokohama Customs list gives the date of the application or of any ceremony to issue the permit.
3. A new branch office to handle customs clearance at the venue
For the customs work arising from the Expo, Yokohama Customs opened the “Yokohama Customs International Horticultural Expo Branch Office” on 1 October 2026. It is due to stay in place until 31 December 2027. Its jurisdiction is the Expo venue within Asahi and Seya wards, and its office hours are weekdays from 8:30am to 5:15pm. At first the office will not be based at the venue: staff will work from a temporary office in the Yokohama Shinko Joint Government Building in Naka Ward and travel to the venue as needed. Export, import, re-export and exhibition declarations outside office hours are handled by the Special Customs Clearance Division of the Yokohama Customs Operations Department.
4. After the Expo, the rule is re-export
Under the circular issued by the Customs and Tariff Bureau on 15 November 2024 (Zaikan No. 1091), every item approved for exhibition must be dealt with in one of four ways before the permit expires: shipped back abroad (re-exported), declared for import with duty paid, declared for import as a free donation to the national government or a local government, or transferred to another bonded area such as a bonded warehouse. If none of these is done by the time the permit expires, the Association takes the step within a period it sets; failing that, duty and other taxes are collected or customs takes the goods into custody.
5. Sales inside the venue are not allowed as a rule
According to JETRO’s Q&A, exhibits in a bonded exhibition area cannot, as a rule, be sold. If a sale is needed, there are two routes: move the item by bonded transportation to another bonded area such as a bonded warehouse, file an import declaration there and pay duty and consumption tax before selling; or take reservations only inside the venue and hand the item over after the Expo closes, once the import declaration is filed and tax paid. For goods whose nature or form changes, or that are consumed, customs may also ask for reports on how they are being used.
6. Live plants face a separate check: plant quarantine
Overseas garden exhibits and the like are likely to bring live plants into the venue. The Plant Protection Station of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries treats plants for cultivation, such as seedlings, bulbs and seeds, and cut flowers as subject to import plant quarantine. Depending on the type of plant and the part concerned, this means an import ban, inspection in the exporting country, or import inspection in Japan. This is separate from customs duty, so the bonded exhibition area permit does not cover it. As of September 2026, we found no official document describing how this will be run at the GREEN×EXPO 2027 venue specifically.
7. Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai used the same framework
The arrangement is not new. On 29 June 2022 the Customs and Tariff Bureau issued a circular of the same structure (Zaikan No. 499) for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai. The overall approach of making the venue a bonded exhibition area is written in the same wording as the GREEN×EXPO 2027 circular, so the framework is reused each time Japan hosts an international exposition. The differences in the rules between Expo 2025 and the Yokohama Expo are covered in “What changes from Expo 2025 to GREEN×EXPO 2027.”
Our take
“Bonded exhibition area” is not a familiar term, but the arrangement is plain: once declared to customs, foreign exhibits can sit in the venue without duty being paid. The Yokohama Customs list and the Association’s general meeting documents confirm that the permit has already been obtained. Since re-export is the rule, we expect most overseas exhibits seen at the venue to go back to their home countries once the Expo ends. Plant quarantine and other procedures are not settled by the permit alone, and we expect more announcements about how garden exhibits will be brought in as the opening approaches.