According to an announcement by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment on Wednesday June 8, it will introduce a regulation which will eventually lead to a virtual ban on the use of the following substances in large home appliances and PC's: lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl and polybrominated diphenyl. The regulation will go into effect in April, 2006 at the earliest.

 

Manufacturers will be required to inform consumers if their offerings use more than certain amounts of the six substances. They will also be required to show this information on packages or in manuals. Besides this regulation, the ministry will recommend government offices to use appliances free from the aforementioned substances. It is also considering applying the regulation to imports.