JP Amended Basel Act — Strengthened E-Waste Controls (2025)
ENFORCEMENT TIMELINE
Effective January 1, 2025
Overview
Following amendments to the annexes of the Basel Convention at the Conference of the Parties, strengthening controls on the import and export of e-waste (electronic and electrical equipment waste), Japan amended the ministerial ordinances under its Basel Act (Act on the Control of Export, Import and Others of Specified Hazardous Wastes) to bring all waste electronic circuit boards and electronic equipment waste, whether hazardous or not, within the scope of the prior informed consent (PIC) procedure for import and export.
Enforcement Timeline
June 2022: COP15 of the Basel Convention adopts an expansion of the substances covered under e-waste controls.
2024: Domestic legislation (ministerial ordinances under the Basel Act) is amended, and import and export procedure guidelines are revised.
January 1, 2025: The amended Basel Act takes effect, making prior approval mandatory for the import and export of e-waste in general.
Business Impact
Recycling operators, trading companies, and manufacturers that import or export waste or scrap such as electronic circuit boards, PCs, home appliances, and automotive electronics are required, from January 2025, to obtain prior notification, consent from the destination country's government, and approval from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of the Environment. Because unauthorized export is treated as illegal export and severely penalized, businesses need to shift toward domestic metal smelting and valuable-metal recovery treatment routes.