On July 3, 2026, Japan's National Institute of Technology and Evaluation (NITE) published the FY2025 (Reiwa 7) GHS classification results for 142 chemical substances, issued on behalf of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Ministry of the Environment (MOE). The batch adds 83 newly classified substances and reclassifies or reviews 59 others, giving manufacturers and importers the government's latest reference classifications for hazard labels and safety data sheets (SDS) on the Japanese market. The results list is published in Japanese, with a parallel English version.
The release is part of an annual cycle. NITE, acting as the technical evaluation body under the three ministries, classifies a batch of substances each fiscal year against JIS Z 7252:2019 (classification) and JIS Z 7253:2019 (labelling and SDS), Japan's building-block adoption of the UN GHS Rev.6. The 142 entries are split between 83 newly classified substances and 59 reclassifications or reviews of previously classified ones.
What is new in the FY2025 batch?
The FY2025 list spans several substance families that recur in industrial supply chains. Newly classified entries include lithium compounds (lithium hydroxide, lithium carbonate, lithium chloride and others), lead and lead compounds (lead(II) oxide, lead nitrate, lead chloride), silicon carbide in whisker, fibrous and non-fibrous forms, and active ingredients such as tebuconazole, warfarin and the explosive RDX. Reclassified entries add PFAS-related substances, among them PFBA (heptafluorobutanoic acid), PFPeS and perfluorooctyl bromide (PFOB), alongside surfactants, acrylates and rubber accelerators.
Each substance record on the NITE site gives the CAS number, the official Japanese chemical name and the full GHS classification result in HTML. Compliance teams handling any of the 142 substances should pull the individual classification sheets rather than rely on the summary list.
Are the government classifications mandatory on Japan labels and SDS?
No, and this is the point most often misread. NITE states explicitly that the government GHS classification results are published as a reference for businesses preparing labels and SDS, and that there is no obligation to record the same content on Japan-market labels or SDS. A manufacturer may cite, copy or quote the results freely, but responsibility for the finished label or SDS rests with its author, and using other literature or test data, or recording content that differs from the government classification, is not prohibited.
The legal trigger for GHS labels and SDS in Japan sits elsewhere. Under JIS Z 7253:2019, GHS-aligned labels and SDS are legally mandatory only for substances regulated under three statutes: the Industrial Safety and Health Act (ISHL, MHLW), the PRTR / Chemical Management Law (Kakanho, METI and MOE), and the Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Act (PDSCA, MHLW). For other chemicals and consumer products, GHS labelling remains a make-efforts (voluntary) expectation. There is no single EU-CLP-equivalent classification register in Japan.
| Instrument | Role in Japan GHS | Legal weight |
|---|---|---|
| JIS Z 7252:2019 | Classification standard (GHS Rev.6) | Technical standard |
| JIS Z 7253:2019 | Labelling and SDS format | Technical standard |
| NITE government classification | Annual reference batch (FY2025: 142 substances) | Non-binding reference |
| ISHL / PRTR / PDSCA | Mandate GHS labels and SDS for listed substances | Legally binding |
Who should act, and by when?
Compliance and hazard-communication teams at chemical manufacturers and importers selling into Japan should review whether any of their substances appear in the 142. For substances already covered by ISHL, PRTR or PDSCA, the new government classification is a ready-made reference for the label and SDS content those laws already require. For substances outside those three laws, the classification is advisory but useful for aligning internal hazard determinations with the government view.
There is no statutory deadline attached to this publication. Because the results are reference material, the action is review, not a forced label redraw. The practical trigger for an actual label or SDS change remains the substance's status under ISHL, PRTR or PDSCA, or a company's own classification under JIS Z 7252.
Continuous, per-jurisdiction monitoring surfaces annual reference releases like this the moment NITE publishes them, so compliance teams can check their inventories against the new list before a customer or auditor asks.
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What to do next
Run the 142-substance list against your Japan inventory, pull the individual NITE classification sheets for any matches, and confirm each substance's status under ISHL, PRTR and PDSCA to know whether a label or SDS update is legally required or merely advisable. Brief the hazard-communication team on the PFAS, lead and lithium entries, which are the most likely to interact with other ongoing regulatory work, and record the source classification in your substance dossier for audit traceability.
