Japan MSCA full enforcement date on JFTC hub (18 Dec 2025)

The JFTC hub page スマホソフトウェア競争促進法（スマホ法）, opened 20 September 2026, states that the Act on Promotion of Competition for Specified Smartphone Software was enacted in June 2024 (promulgated 19 June 2024 as Act No. 58 of Reiwa 6) and that the Act was fully enforced on 18 December 2025 (令和７年12月18日に全面施行).

The same hub restates that designation provisions took effect in advance on 19 December 2024, and that on 26 March 2025 the JFTC designated Apple Inc. (mobile OS, app store, browser), iTunes K.K. (app store), and Google LLC (mobile OS, app store, browser, search engine). A hub notice dated 18 December 2025 records that an MSCA declaration / complaint form was opened that day.

Operator action

From the full-enforcement date, prohibited-conduct and compliance duties for designated operators are live under the Act. Platform fee cards and alternative-distribution tooling (for example Apple’s iOS 26.2 Japan notices) should be read as responses to that statutory clock, not as substitutes for the Act text.

Download the event card.

Research checked 20 September 2026. Local draft; human editorial review pending.