This article is for sellers who have received a restricted-product warning in Seller Central, or who have had a listing removed without knowing which product was at issue. It walks through, in order, how to tell why a product cannot be listed, which screens to check (and in what order) to identify the affected products (ASINs), how to find other listings with the same cause, how to submit documents and appeal, and how to set up pre-listing checks that prevent a repeat.
What a restricted-product warning means: first identify why you can't list
Amazon designates products that cannot be listed because of laws and regulations or because of Amazon's own policies. Selling prohibited products can lead to suspension or termination of selling privileges and to disposal of FBA inventory without reimbursement, and if Amazon determines that an account is being used for illegal activity, payments may even be withheld or forfeited.
The Japanese Help page "Restricted Products" (制限対象商品) has 22 category-specific pages, covering drugs, cosmetics, electrical appliances and more, and asks sellers to read the "Examples of permitted and prohibited listings" (出品可能商品と出品禁止商品の例示) on each page before listing. The product examples are not exhaustive and are updated from time to time, and even products shown as "Examples of permitted listings" must comply with all applicable laws. This article is based on the official Help pages for Japan (Amazon.co.jp) as of September 2026. Policies and screen labels can change, so please also check the latest Help pages.
"Can't list" can mean five different situations
When you receive a warning, start by determining which situation you are in. The action you need to take differs between a product whose sale is prohibited outright and a product that can be listed once you have approval or the right documents.
| Situation | How to recognize it | First action to take |
|---|---|---|
| Sale is prohibited | "Add a Product" (商品登録) shows "Not supported" (非対応) or "You do not meet the requirements to apply" (申請に必要な要件を満たしていません) | Close the listing and identify other listings with the same cause |
| Approval to sell is required | "Add a Product" shows "Apply to sell" (出品許可を申請) | Check the requirements under "Show limitations" (制限を表示) and apply |
| Documents must be submitted | The "Next steps" in Product Policy Compliance (商品規約の遵守) or a notification asks you to submit documents | Confirm which documents are requested and the deadline |
| Only FBA is not allowed | You can list the product, but it falls under "FBA prohibited products," such as aerosols | Review your FBA inventory and fulfillment method |
| Wording is the cause | Claims about efficacy or effects in the product title or description have been flagged | Correct the content on the product detail page |
If "Add a Product" shows "Sell this product" (この商品を出品する), you do not need approval to sell. According to Help, approval reviews take 2 to 7 business days, and the required documents are listed in the table later in this article. A decision stating "You do not meet the requirements to apply" cannot be appealed.
We cover how to apply when approval to sell is required, and what to do next for each application result shown, in How to apply for listing approval (Selling Applications).
Amazon Seller Reinstatement Support (not an official Amazon contact channel), which publishes this article, also accepts consultations on listing restrictions and on applying for listing approval. Our fees are the same for every engagement, and you can check them on our pricing page.
What happens when warnings pile up: the link to Account Health
The "Restricted Products Policy" (制限対象商品に関する規約) is covered by the Account Health Rating (AHR). The AHR is a score from 0 to 1,000; points are deducted for each violation according to its severity, and a score of 99 or below (red) means the account is at risk of deactivation or already deactivated. We cover this in detail in How to check your Account Health score.
Key points to keep in mind
- There are four severity levels, "Critical," "High," "Medium" and "Low," plus "No impact." A single "Critical" violation can be grounds for deactivation
- Under the current policy, effective July 23, 2025, your account may still be deactivated immediately if violations of the same policy reach the limit within 180 days. The limit varies by severity, and for high-severity violations it may be as few as two
- A "Critical" violation or reaching the limit turns your AHR red (a score of 0). The Help FAQ gives a three-day window to act before deactivation, but the policy text also says deactivation may be immediate, so act without waiting for the deadline
- Closing or deleting the listing alone does not remove the violation. Violations are removed when, for example, a dispute (a claim that the decision was wrong) confirms an error, an appeal finds the violation was unintentional and should be forgiven, you have taken corrective action, or 180 days have passed since it was added (while your account is deactivated because of the AHR, violations remain even after 180 days)
Amazon does not publish the severity or limit for restricted-product violations, so don't assume "it's only the first one." Cut off listings with the same cause early. Even a violation that was removed from the Account Health page after an appeal (in which you acknowledge the violation and explain its cause and your countermeasures) was accepted may still count toward repeat violations within 180 days if you did not file a dispute (a claim that the decision was wrong) for it.
Identifying the affected products (ASINs): which screens to check, and in what order
Information about restricted products is not necessarily gathered on a single screen. Check your notifications and several dashboards in order, and write down the affected ASINs and SKUs.
STEP 1. Read the notification email and Performance Notifications
When there is a policy violation, you are notified by email of warnings, suspension or removal of selling privileges and similar actions, and details of removals can also be found in Performance Notifications (パフォーマンス通知). Write down four things: the policy name, the affected ASINs, the next steps requested, and the deadline. An Account Health specialist may call you during the response period, so also keep the emergency contact in Notification Preferences (通知設定) up to date.
STEP 2. Open Product Policy Compliance under Account Health
Under Account Health (アカウント健全性), open "View all" (すべて表示) in Product Policy Compliance to see the history of removed listings and images, their current status, and the next steps for reinstatement. Also note the issue type, such as "Restricted Products Policy violations" (制限対象商品に関する規約違反の問題). If nothing appears there, also check the Manage Compliance (コンプライアンスの管理) dashboard, which separately reports certain product safety violations.
STEP 3. Check Manage Inventory and "Review listing restrictions"
The "Fix" (修正) tab on the Manage Inventory (商品管理) page shows products whose sales or visibility have been stopped by restriction flags and similar issues. "Drafts: Restrictions" (下書き：制限事項) are listings that were submitted but have restrictions requiring action. If a new listing was blocked, use "Review listing restrictions" (出品制限を確認する) in the banner at the top of Manage All Inventory (全在庫の管理), then open "See why it was blocked" (ブロックされた理由を確認する).
STEP 4. Use the email instructions as your starting point for safety investigations
When a safety investigation is opened, for example because of a buyer report, your listing may be suspended while it is under investigation. The reason, how to reinstate, and the required documents are stated in the email notification, and you submit the documents through the link in that notification. We cover this in Responding to product safety warnings.
Gather your findings into an "affected products inventory sheet" to avoid missed submissions and expired deadlines.
| Item | What to record |
|---|---|
| ASIN / SKU | The affected products shown in notifications or on screen |
| Where you found it | The notification date and the dashboard you checked |
| Policy name | The name and issue type shown in the notification or on screen |
| Next steps | What the screen asks for, such as document submission, an appeal or a correction |
| Inventory | Whether it is FBA inventory or your own inventory, and the quantity |
| Deadline / owner | The deadline stated in the notification and the person handling it |
Assess what the decision really means: a false positive, missing requirements, or a violation?
Once you have identified the affected products, determine why they were stopped. Help acknowledges that sellable products can be removed when product information is incomplete or inaccurate, or because of a system error. On the other hand, some products are prohibited by Amazon's policies even if they don't violate any law.
| Your assessment | How to proceed |
|---|---|
| It was wrongly flagged as restricted | File a dispute (see "If you believe the decision is wrong" below) |
| It can be listed, but documents are missing | Submit documents (see "If you are submitting documents" below) |
| Approval to sell was required | Apply for approval from "Add a Product" |
| It is a product that cannot be sold | Close the listing and appeal by answering the four questions |
Even if you believe the decision is wrong, Help asks you to promptly close the listing for that product and also confirm legal compliance. For what to tell Technical Support, see Organizing your case before contacting Technical Support. Amazon does not give legal advice on whether an individual product is subject to a law, so if you are unsure, check with the manufacturer or importer, a testing organization, the relevant government agency, or a lawyer.
Reviewing your listings: expand from the affected product to listings with the same cause
If you fix only the product that triggered the warning, any remaining listings with the same cause can lead to the next violation.
Review 1. Stop the affected listing (the difference between "close" and "delete")
If you select "Close listing" (出品を終了) from "Edit details" (詳細を編集) in Manage All Inventory, the status changes to "Inactive" (停止中) and the sales history is kept. "Delete product and listing" (商品と出品を削除) cannot be undone, and you can re-list only after 24 hours have passed. Start by stopping the listing with "Close listing," and decide on deletion only after you have recorded the affected SKUs and ASINs in your inventory sheet and settled your approach to document submission or appeals. Because a closed product can be re-listed, also turn off any integration settings so that inventory feeds or connected tools don't automatically re-list it.
Review 2. Identify listings that share the same cause
Check across product pages that share the same brand or series, ingredients, regulations, supplier or wording. Products registered in bulk through inventory feeds or external tools are also in scope.
| Category | Points to check (based on examples in Help) |
|---|---|
| Electrical appliances and electronics | Whether products covered by the Electrical Appliances and Materials Safety Act have the PSE mark; whether specified radio equipment has the Giteki mark and the product detail page states Giteki conformity and frequency bands; whether specified products under the Consumer Product Safety Act have the PSC mark. Selling cylindrical lithium-ion batteries on their own is also an example of a prohibited listing |
| Drugs | Over-the-counter drugs require a store-based sales license or pharmacy license and Amazon's listing review. Only products on Amazon's sales list can be listed |
| Cosmetics and quasi-drugs | Whether the legally required labeling is in Japanese. Examples of prohibited listings include parallel imports in packaging for overseas markets without Japanese legal labeling, direct-shipment listings from overseas by sellers without a marketing authorization license, products without an outer box, and samples |
| Food, supplements and general goods | Whether the product claims to cure, relieve, treat or prevent conditions related to cancer, diabetes, dieting and weight loss, hair growth and regrowth, immunity and so on (except for certain foods with health claims) |
| Alcoholic beverages | Whether you hold a liquor sales license, and whether you are listing outside the Wine category |
| Recalls | Whether any recalled products are included |
If wording is the cause, also see Responding to inaccurate or inappropriate content warnings; if you handle celebrity-related or adult products, also see Steps to check before listing celebrity-related or adult products.
Review 3. Check how your FBA inventory is handled
FBA prohibited products include products without labels in Japanese as required by Japanese law, products that cannot be stored at room temperature, aerosols, drugs and more. This list is set separately from whether a product can be sold, so a product that can be sold on Amazon may still not be eligible for FBA. If FBA inventory is placed on hold for a Restricted Products Policy violation, you will be notified by email and may be asked for documents.
How to submit documents and appeal
If you are submitting documents
Go to Account Health → Product Policy Compliance → the issue type → "Submit" (送信) in the "Next steps" (次の手順) column → "Add compliance information for this product" (この商品のコンプライアンス情報を追加), attach your files, and click "Submit."
The instructions in the notification or in "Next steps" on screen take priority when it comes to documents. The examples given in Help are as follows.
| Situation | Examples of documents listed in Help |
|---|---|
| Applying for approval to sell | A purchase invoice (dated within 180 days), clear photos of all sides of the product, and, where applicable and required, a letter of authorization from the brand or a safety certificate |
| Document requirements for electrical appliances | The business notification for manufacturing or importing; for specified electrical appliances, a conformity inspection certificate from a registered inspection body; a copy of the self-inspection records covering all units; and a photo of the label in which the PSE mark, the notifying business and the ratings (and, for specified electrical appliances, the registered inspection body that performed the inspection) are legible |
| Product safety investigations | A product safety questionnaire (checklist), an incident investigation report, and a test report from a third-party testing laboratory |
| Questionnaire when an account is deactivated | Evidence for every product and ASIN under review. For some products, invoices covering the past 365 days |
What to check in the documents you submit
- Submit genuine documents in their original, unaltered format
- For electrical appliance documents, include the ASIN in the file name and submit them separately for each ASIN, and don't use documents generated by computer or AI (this is stated explicitly in Help)
- For safety investigations, prepare documents in Japanese or English
If you believe the decision is wrong
Select "Submit" under "Next steps" → "Appeal requirements" (申し立ての要件), choose a reason, and enter why the requirements do not apply or why you believe the product was wrongly identified. Gather supporting materials, such as the product's labeling and specifications, before you submit.
If you acknowledge the violation and appeal: answer the four questions
Help asks that an appeal of a restricted-product violation answer the following four points.
- Which product (ASIN or product type) violated which policy
- What caused the violation
- What actions you took to resolve it
- What preventive measures you took to prevent future violations
Examples of appeals that get rejected include generic plans that don't identify the product and offer only apologies and promises, and explanations that don't identify a cause, such as "I just listed against a product that was already on the site" or "I listed a restricted product." The measures you describe are treated as already in place at the time of submission, and you cannot reuse a previous appeal. For how to structure it, see also How to build a plan of action.
The following is a sample for a case where cosmetics in packaging intended for overseas markets, without Japanese legal labeling, were listed. It is a hypothetical example, not an actual case, so rewrite it to match your own facts.
[Violation] We listed a cosmetic product under ASIN (B0XXXXXXXX) in packaging intended for overseas markets, without the legally required labeling in Japanese, in violation of the Restricted Products Policy.
[Cause] Our purchasing checklist had no step to verify that the legally required labeling was in Japanese or that the product had been notified for marketing, and the staff member listed the product without looking at the labeling on the packaging. We also had no procedure for checking against the examples of prohibited listings in the Help page "Quasi-drugs and Cosmetics" (医薬部外品および化粧品).
[Actions taken to resolve] We closed the relevant listing, checked the labeling of all cosmetics and quasi-drugs from the same supplier, and also closed listings for products without Japanese legal labeling.
[Preventive measures] We changed our procedure so that, for cosmetics and quasi-drugs, we confirm at purchase that the legally required labeling is in Japanese and whether a marketing notification or approval exists; one person responsible for listing management checks photos of the labeling and the supplier's invoice; and the date of the check and the name of the person who checked are recorded in a log for each ASIN before listing. We trained all employees responsible for listing on that Help page and the Restricted Products Policy.
If your account is deactivated: appeal from "Reactivate your selling account"
From "Reactivate your selling account" (出品用アカウントの再開) at the top of the Account Health page, follow the instructions to submit an appeal. You may be asked to answer a questionnaire or provide additional documents, and you also need to confirm the submission deadline. Help says a response takes up to about two days, but this is only a guideline. We explain the overall process in An overview from account deactivation to reinstatement request.
What not to do
The following actions are described in Help as ineffective, or may make the situation worse.
- Just setting the item out of stock, or only closing or deleting the listing: The violation is not removed, and it does not mean you have complied with the policy or the law.
- Using "set questionable products out of stock" as a preventive measure: This is cited as an ineffective example, because you can still be deactivated once a product turns out to be prohibited.
- Using "check with Technical Support before listing" as a preventive measure: Amazon does not review legal compliance before listing or give legal advice, so this is described as not an effective process.
- Altering documents or creating them with AI: Amazon requires genuine, unaltered documents, and suspected falsification can lead to deactivation regardless of your score. For documents you don't have on hand, ask your supplier to reissue genuine copies.
- Creating another account to keep selling: Under the Seller Code of Conduct, you may have only one Seller Central account for each region where you sell, unless you have a legitimate business need and all of your accounts are in good standing. A separate account created to evade warnings or deactivation violates this, and attempts to circumvent the system can be grounds for deactivation regardless of your score.
- Ignoring notifications or deadlines: Missing the response period can lead to deactivation.
Preventing recurrence: make pre-listing checks part of your internal procedures
Build the points Amazon highlights as key to policy compliance into your internal listing procedures, adding a method for recording the results of your checks.
Items to build into your pre-listing checks
- Appoint a reviewer who knows the products, the industry and the applicable laws, and don't list anything before it has been checked
- Don't conclude that a product can be listed just because it is not among the "examples of prohibited listings" or because an ASIN already exists
- Check the category-specific pages and what "Add a Product" shows
- Photograph marks such as PSE, Giteki and PSC and the Japanese legal labeling, and save them for each ASIN
- Make sure the product title, description and images do not claim to cure or prevent disease or make efficacy claims about dieting, hair growth and similar
- For drugs and supplements, know the ingredients and check whether they are permitted
- At purchase, check recall information from the Consumer Affairs Agency and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
- When buying from someone other than the manufacturer, verify the product's source and the accuracy of the documents
- Don't list products when you are unsure whether they can be sold
- Regularly audit your catalog, including products from automatic integrations, and check for updates to Help and the law
Keep records of your checks in a form that lets you explain later "who looked at what, and where it was recorded." With records in place, if you ever need to appeal, it is easier to explain the measures already in place along the lines of the four questions.
Frequently asked questions
Q. I listed the product without knowing it was restricted. Is that still a violation?
A. Not knowing is not, on its own, a reason to be excused from a violation. Help states that it is the seller's responsibility to review Amazon's policies before listing and to ensure products comply with applicable laws. If an appeal finds the violation was unintentional and should be forgiven, it may be removed. Don't stop at "I didn't know"; show the cause in your procedures and the preventive measures you have put in place.
Q. My FBA inventory was placed on hold and I was asked to submit documents. What happens to the inventory?
A. If you don't submit documents by the deadline, or if the product is determined to be inappropriate, the inventory may be disposed of. Enter the deadline and submission method stated in the notification into your inventory sheet. For inventory determined to be policy-compliant, you can request a return or abandon ownership.
Q. A product I used to list without any problems suddenly stopped.
A. Your selling privileges can change when new restrictions or requirements are added to an existing product, or when safety or compliance requirements change. Check Performance Notifications and Account Health, and recheck in "Add a Product" whether approval to sell is required.
Q. I also sell the same product on Amazon in other countries. Is the way to check the same?
A. The list of restricted products and the underlying laws differ by store. The Japanese Help also states that sellers are responsible for researching applicable laws when listing for buyers in other countries. Check the Help pages for each store, and if you sell food, cosmetics or similar products in the US, see also Checking FDA labeling requirements and restriction notices on Amazon US.
Summary
Working through a restricted-product warning in the following order makes it easier to avoid gaps in your response.
- First, use what the screens and notifications show to determine whether the product is "prohibited from sale," "requires approval to sell," "requires documents," "not allowed in FBA only" or "flagged because of wording"
- Check notifications, Product Policy Compliance, Manage Compliance and Manage Inventory in order, and gather the affected ASINs and deadlines in an inventory sheet
- Decide whether to respond with a document submission, a dispute or an appeal, and in an appeal, answer the four questions specifically
- Avoid repeating violations with the same cause through pre-listing checks built around a responsible reviewer and records
If you are unsure how to read the decision or how to approach your appeal, organize your situation and consider consulting a specialist.
Need help with a suspension involving restricted products?
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Free consultation, 24/7 *This article provides a general explanation. The appropriate response in individual cases depends on the circumstances.
