Action Taken by three Ministries against Violations of the Chemical Substances Control Law

The Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry have withdrawn their confirmations for the manufacturing of two new chemicals as intermediates from Meisei Chemical Works Co. Ltd today. Additionally, the three ministries ordered the company to observe the law and to introduce appropriate measures to prevent a recurrence of such problems.
This action was based on the third paragraph of the article 3 of the Act on the Evaluation of Chemical Substances and Regulation of their Manufacture, etc. (otherwise known as the Chemical Substances Control Law). While the forth subparagraph of the first paragraph of article 3 stipulates that the three ministers can confirm manufacture or import of a new chemical that is an intermediate of another chemical without notification, including safety information on the new chemical, the first subparagraph of the third paragraph of the same article stipulates that they shall withdraw such confirmation when it was received by unjust means. In this case, Meisei Chemical Works Co. Ltd. manufactured two new intermediate chemicals before receiving such confirmation, but they hid such facts after having received the confirmations.

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