According to the proceedings of an internal meeting held by Japanese authorities on February 19, 2020, the government has worked out a draft adjustment to the lists of substances subject to the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) law. Under the PRTR system, currently, 462 substances are designated as Class 1 substances and 100 other substances as Class 2 substances. Businesses handling Class 1 substances are required to estimate and report the release and transfer of such substances on a regular basis. Both Class 1 and 2 substances are subject to SDS and labeling requirements under the GHS framework.

The draft adjustment proposed to increase the number of Class 1 substances and Class 2 substances from 462 to 527 and from 100 to 137. Especially, 271 substances will be newly added and 169 will be removed from the existing lists.

But it should be noted that this draft adjustment is just a preliminary proposal and maybe polished based on further discussions and deliberations. ChemLinked will have a close eye on the updates of the PRTR regulations.