The European Union is likely to remove Japan and five other countries from its list of safe countries.
A special EU health committee has proposed removing Japan, along with Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Brunei, and Serbia from the safe list.
It means visitors or people returning from those countries could face tighter controls on their travels, such as COVID-19 tests or mandatory quarantine.
EU ambassadors are set to review the proposal later this week before a final decision is made.
Restrictions in Other Countries
The list seeks to unify travel rules across the 27 EU member states. However, any recommendations are not legally binding and individual nations are free to set their own restrictions.
Several countries have followed the recommendations. Germany has added Albania, Azerbaijan, Japan, and Serbia to its list of high-risk areas.
The EU has already removed the US from its safe list, which has proved controversial.
With the proposed changes, the EU safe list would compromise 12 countries, including Canada, Australia, and Saudi Arabia.
In most countries, most non-EU visitors who are fully vaccinated can enter without any restrictions, Covid tests and quarantine can apply.
