Act on Control of Household Products Containing Harmful Substances (有害物質を含有する家庭用品の規制に関する法律)
- Citation
- Act No. 112 of 1973 (昭和四十八年法律第百十二号)
- Jurisdiction
- JP
- Made by
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
- Instrument
- Act
- Status
- In force
What it requires (3 obligations)
The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may designate household products by ministerial ordinance and set standards for them governing the content, elution or emission of substances designated as harmful, and household products are products mainly for ordinary consumer use other than those listed in the appended table.
No date set Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
- Who it falls on
- Manufacturers, importers and sellers
- Products
- Textiles, apparel, home textiles
- Markets
- JP
The appended table excludes food, additives, utensils, containers, toys and detergents under the Food Sanitation Act, and drugs, quasi-drugs, cosmetics, medical devices and regenerative medicine products under the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act. Textile products are not excluded. The substances themselves, and the limits, are in the Cabinet Order and the ministerial ordinance rather than in the Act. The record carries the duty the article imposes. The designated goods, the labelling standards themselves and the exemptions live in the Cabinet Order, the enforcement regulation and the public notices made under the Act.
Drafted from 第二条 and 第四条第一項.
A person carrying on the business of manufacturing, importing or selling a household product for which a standard has been set must not sell it, give it away, or display it for sale or gift if it does not conform to that standard.
No date set Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
- Who it falls on
- Manufacturers, importers and sellers
- Products
- Textiles, apparel, home textiles
- Markets
- JP
- Penalties
- Imprisonment for up to one year or a fine of up to 300,000 yen (一年以下の拘禁刑又は三十万円以下の罰金).
The duty falls on the importer as well as the manufacturer and the seller, and reaches display for sale rather than sale alone. The record carries the duty the article imposes. The designated goods, the labelling standards themselves and the exemptions live in the Cabinet Order, the enforcement regulation and the public notices made under the Act.
Drafted from 第五条, with the penalty from 第十条第一号.
Where a non-conforming household product has been sold or given away and the Minister or the prefectural governor considers there is a risk of harm to health, they may order the business to recall the product or take other measures necessary to prevent that harm; where serious harm has occurred and the product is suspected of containing a substance related to it, an emergency recall order may be made against the manufacturer or importer.
No date set Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
- Who it falls on
- Manufacturers, importers and sellers
- Products
- Textiles, apparel, home textiles
- Markets
- JP
- Penalties
- Imprisonment for up to one year or a fine of up to 300,000 yen (一年以下の拘禁刑又は三十万円以下の罰金).
The second power does not require the standard to have been breached — suspicion that the product contains a substance connected to serious harm is enough, and it runs against the manufacturer or importer rather than the seller. The record carries the duty the article imposes. The designated goods, the labelling standards themselves and the exemptions live in the Cabinet Order, the enforcement regulation and the public notices made under the Act.
Drafted from 第六条第一項 and 第六条第二項, with the penalty from 第十条第二号.
This is a register, not advice. It records what an instrument says and when it applies. Whether it applies to a particular company, product or shipment is a question for somebody who knows that business, and the answer is frequently not what the summary above would suggest.
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