JCEIA 一般社団法人 日本化学品輸出入協会

Appendix

Q&A about required information on chemical substances at the time of import customs clearance declaration by the Chemical Substances Control Law

amended on January 25, 2022

To business operators considering importing chemical substances in Japan

Those persons who import chemical substances have the same obligations as local manufacturers in Japan. Chemical substances are regulated by many laws & regulations due to their inherent various hazard properties and use applications though those substances are indispensable to our lives.

One of the rules is the act on the examination and manufacture of chemical substances (Chemical Substances Control Law, hereafter CSCL) to prevent from environmental pollution by chemical substances that may harm human health or interfere with the habitat and growth of fauna and flora.

Compositional information on chemical substances that importers need to know

Here is the explanation of requirement to importers about disclosure of ingredient information on chemical substances by CSCL.

The Law requires necessary procedures to be taken in advance to import regulated substances such as Class I Specified Chemical Substances and unlisted chemical substances on ENCS (Existing and Newly Added Chemical Substance). CSCL requires filling out the import declaration form or invoice with each classification reference number etc. of the official gazette publication for ingredients including impurities. Furthermore, importers must know the content of each ingredient to comply with the required annual volume tracking report to the authorities.

Specifically, importers are required to obtain sufficient level of information as below Q&As indicate.

Q: In terms of the import of chemical products containing the target substance, the proportion is 97% by weight, to what extent does the Act on the Evaluation of Chemical Substances and Regulation of Their Manufacture, etc. (Chemical Substances Control Law, or CSCL) require the importer to provide information on impurities with 3% by weight remaining to the custom authorities?

A:CSCL requires the importer to provide information to identify the chemical substances present with 1 wt.% or more. Therefore, even for impurities with 3 wt.% in product, it is necessary to provide enough information on those impurities that are present with 1 wt.% or more. Moreover, even if a substance is present with less than 1 wt.%, when the substance is added intentionally, it is necessary to provide information to identify such a substance. However, regarding Class I Specified Chemical Substances, it is not allowed to import them even if they are present as impurities with less than 1 wt.%. Here are some specific examples.

Case 1)

Case 2)

Case 3)

Requirements are summarized in the following table;

【Reference】

  1. 輸入通関手続きについて(METI Q&A)
  2. 化学物質の輸入通関手続(METI)

Remarks

Please ensure to comply with procedures required by not only CSCL but also other laws e.g. Industrial Safety & Health Law, Poisonous & Deleterious Substances Control Law.

Acknowledgments and disclaimer

This document was prepared by the Confidential Business Information Working Group which belongs to the Chemical Safety & Environment Committee for discussing and examining domestic chemical management. And we hope the achievement of sound import transactions by sharing this information widely. We would like to express our gratitude to the government authorities and related organizations for the cooperation and support for posting the Q&A on our website. Although the information contained in this document was prepared with sufficient scrutiny, however, there is no warranty or guarantee against all Japanese regulatory requirements and intellectual property infringement. Nothing in this document shall reduce the user's responsibility and JCEIA shall not be liable for any non-conformities that may occur from the use of this information.