Revised Law Requires Hazardous Materials List for Large Ships

June 13, 2018

Tokyo- The Diet, Japan's parliament, enacted Wednesday a bill to oblige businesses to make an inventory of hazardous materials used for large ships in order to ensure safety when they are dismantled.

The bill to revise the law for safe dismantling of ships for their recycling was unanimously adopted at the day's plenary meeting of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber. It cleared the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, late last month.

The revised law will come into force to coincide with the effectuation possibly in 2020 of an international treaty that sets rules related to ship dismantling. The Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships was adopted in 2009.

The owners of Japanese ships of at least 500 gross tons whose areas of operation include waters outside the country's exclusive economic zone will be required to make a list of asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyl and other hazardous materials used for the vessels. Ships without such lists will be banned from sailing outside the Japanese EEZ.

For some 200 existing large ships, the requirement will be applied in five years after the effectuation of the revised law. Jiji Press