On January 4, 2025, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), and Ministry of the Environment (MOE) jointly proposed a new initiative to exempt 87 chemical substances from the annual reporting requirements under the Chemical Substances Control Law (CSCL) and to remove one substance from the existing exemption list. The public comment period for this proposal will continue until February 3, with the amendments expected to take effect in late March.
Under the CSCL, any enterprise manufacturing or importing general chemical substances in certain quantities must report the previous year's manufacturing volumes to the METI annually. However, this reporting obligation will no longer be mandatory for substances that are neither classified as Class I nor Class II Specified Chemical Substances and are considered unnecessary for risk assessment.
In this amendment, 87 chemical substances were added to Annex 1 as substances exempt from the reporting requirements for manufacturing and import volumes. These substances are neither Class I nor Class II Specified Chemical Substances, nor are they substances that are hard to decompose and may have long-term toxicity to humans or ecological toxicity, and thus are considered unnecessary for risk assessment.
Meanwhile, one substance has been removed from Annex 2: the copolymer of 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate-N-hydroxymethylacrylamide-octadecyl acrylate-2-perfluoro (hexyl, octyl, decyl, dodecyl, and tetradecyl) ethyl acrylate, which has been reclassified as a Class I Specified Chemical Substance.
The three ministries hope that this amendment will simplify the management procedures for chemical substances, reduce the administrative burden on businesses, and ensure public and environmental safety. During the public consultation period, the ministries particularly urge the public to provide valuable feedback to help refine the final regulatory amendments.
For more information about the specific chemical substances listed in Annex 1 and Annex 2, please refer to:
https://public-comment.e-gov.go.jp/pcm/detail?CLASSNAME=PCMMSTDETAIL&id=595124155&Mode=0
