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Press Release

Partial Amendment to the Cabinet Order of the Chemical Substances Control Law

March 28, 2005

The Japanese government shall amend the Cabinet Order of the Law Concerning the Examination of Chemical Substances and Regulation of their Manufacture, etc. (Chemical Substances Control Law) and designate 2,2,2-trichloro-1,1-bis(4-chlorophenyl) ethanol (known as dicofol or kelthane) and hexachlorobuta-1,3-diene as Class 1 Specified Chemical Substance. Dicofol was used as acaricide and hexachlorobuta-1,3-diene was used as solvent in the past. Due to this amendment, however, manufacture, import and use of these two substances shall be prohibited from the date of enforcement of the amended order (April 1, 2005).

Class 1 Specified Chemical Substance is defined as one having all of the following three chemical natures; low degradability, high bioaccumulation and chronic toxicity on man or top predators. The joint advisory committee of the Ministry of the Environment, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare deliberated on the safety of these two substances based on the testing results of these two substances and concluded that they had all three characteristics, thus required them to be designated as Class 1 Specified Chemical Substance.

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