It was signed in Helsinki, Finland on September 9, 2006, by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Environmentalists cry foul over this provision, stating that various laws are bound to be violated if the agreement pushes through.

4653 (An Act to Safeguard the Health of the People and Maintain the Dignity of the Nation by Declaring it a National Policy to Prohibit the Commercial Importation of Textile Articles Commonly Known as Used Clothing and Rags) wherein worn clothing and other worn articles, used or new rags, scrap twine, cordage, rope and cables and worn out articles of twine, cordage, rope or cables, of textile materials are also prohibited from being imported into the Philippines.

One of the main concerns regarding JPEPA is the possibility of having Japan export their waste products and hazardous materials to the Philippines.

184635 and 185366 'IDEALS, Inc. v. Senate') penned by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, upheld the constitutionality of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreementof dismissing the consolidated petitions for certiorari and prohibition of petitioners Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative Legal Services, Inc., (IDEALS), et al. and Fair Trade Alliance (FairTrade).