According to the Japanese Chemical Substances Control Law, all new chemical substances must be notified by manufacturers/importers and evaluated by the authorities (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) and Ministry of the Environment (MOE)) prior to manufacture/import. There is no threshold volume, therefore you always need to check the status – existing or new - when you export chemical substances to Japan. However, if your import volume is less than 1 t/y, Small Volume Permit (SVP) is applicable. In this case, your importer should become a notifier for SVP, but you don’t need to disclose the chemical identity to your importer with our help.

There are only 4 chances when you are able to notify the authorities in 2020, if you wish to hide the chemical identity from your importer: 

Submission window

• 20 - 27 January 2020
• 2 - 4 June 2020
• 1 - 4 September 2020
• 1 - 4 December 2020

If you submit to the authorities at a different period than the ones mentioned above, you will be required to disclose the chemical identity because of the difference in submission procedure.

If you miss the slot, you can’t export new chemical substances to Japan until the SVP is complete. We suggest that you contact us at least 1.5 months before each submission window.