Japan Intends to Ban Three POP Chemicals

SG 155/25

Japan is planning to regulate three persistent organic pollutants (POP) as Class I Specified Chemical Substances.

In May 2025, the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention (SC COP-12) added chlorpyrifos (SC-12/9), medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (MCCPs, SC-12/10) and long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids (LC-PFCAs), their salts and LC-PFCA-related compounds (SC-12/12) to Annex A (elimination) of the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants (POPs), with specific exemptions.

According to the Convention:

• ‘MCCPs’ refers to substances or mixtures that contain linear chloroalkanes with C_14-17 chain lengths and chlorination levels of at least 45% chlorine, and/or substances that contain linear C_14-17 chloroalkanes with the following formulae:
• C₁₄H(₃₀-y)Cl_y, where y ≥ 5
• C₁₅H(₃₂-y)Cl_y, where y ≥ 5
• C₁₆H(₃₄-y)Cl_y, where y ≥ 6
• C₁₇H(₃₆-y)Cl_y, where y ≥ 6
• ‘LC-PFCAs and their salts’ refers to a homologous series of substances with the molecular formula of C_nF_2n+1COOH (where 8 ≤ n ≤ 20)
• ‘LC-PFCA-related compounds’ means any precursor substance that may transform to LC-PFCAs, where the perfluorinated alkyl moiety has the molecular formula C_nF_2n+1 (where 8 ≤ n ≤ 20) and is directly bonded to any chemical moiety other than a fluorine, chlorine or bromine atom
• Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds are not considered as LC-PFCAs, their salts or LC-PFCA-related compounds

On October 3, 2025, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) and other competent authorities announced a one-month consultation period for the proposed measures to regulate chlorpyrifos, MCCPs and LC-PFCAs, their salts and LC-PFCA-related compounds.

Key provisions in the proposal include:

• Designating chlorpyrifos, MCCPs and LC-PFCAs, their salts and LC-PFCA-related compounds as Class I Specified Chemical Substances under the nation’s Law Concerning the Evaluation of Chemical Substances and Regulation of their Manufacture, etc. (Law No. 117 of 1973, also known as the Chemical Substances Control Law (CSCL)).
• Prohibiting the manufacture and import of these substances, and specified products containing these substances, from 2026 (see Table 1 below)
• Banning the use of these substances without an approved use (essential use)
• Establishing technical standards for handling specified products that use LC-PFCAs

Highlights of the import ban on specified products containing these POP chemicals in the proposal are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1

Comments will be accepted until November 2, 2025.

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