JAIA Rules for Registration of Non-Formaldehyde Products (for Foreign Companies)

March 31, 2007

The following table shows trends in production quantities for different types of adhesive and shipment quantities by end usage, and is compiled from information collected by the Japan Adhesive Industry Association.

Article 1 (Purpose)

The purpose of these Rules is to facilitate supply of adhesives used for construction, building materials, furniture, and the like in relation to house interiors that are not directly subject to formaldehyde-emission controls under the Building Standard Law of Japan by establishing a registration system for Adhesives in the Japan Adhesive Industry Association (hereinafter referred to as “JAIA”), in order to reduce the impact of pollution of indoor air quality by chemical substances upon residents' health.

Article 2 (Registration of Products)

In accordance with these Rules, JAIA shall register the following types of Adhesives in which formaldehyde-emitting raw materials including, but not limited to, urea resin, melamine resin, phenolic resin, resorcinol resin and antiseptic agents derived from formaldehyde, are not used (hereinafter referred to as “Non-Formaldehyde Product” or “Non-Formaldehyde Products” as the case may be).

Article 3 (Applicant and Conditions of Application)

  1. Any foreign company that manufactures, processes or distributes Adhesives or raw materials thereof and does not have a branch office in Japan may, in accordance with these Rules, apply for registration of Non-Formaldehyde Products manufactured by it.
  2. Application shall be made through a Japanese corporation which deals with chemical products, or a Japanese attorney-at-law or legal profession corporation (bengoshihojin) as attorney-in-fact, except where test data of formaldehyde-emission examination carried out by means of Small Chamber as prescribed in Article 4 vi) are attached.

Article 4-1 (Application Procedures)

A company which applies for registration of Non-Formaldehyde Products hereunder (hereinafter referred to as “Applicant”) or attorney-in-fact thereof (hereinafter referred to as “Application Agent”) shall file the following documents (hereinafter collectively referred to as “Application Documents”) with JAIA. Provided, however, that vi) below may be excluded if application is made through the Application Agent.

  1. Company or office brochure of and Application Agent (if the Application Agent is a Japanese attorney-at-law, his or her curriculum vitae), registration of Applicant (Form-6), and registration of Application Agent (Form-6 ).
  2. Application for Registration of Non-Formaldehyde Product, which contains a statement guaranteeing that no formaldehyde-emitting raw materials including, but not limited to, urea resin, melamine resin, phenolic resin, resorcinol resin and antiseptic agents derived from formaldehyde, are used in the product the registration of which is applied for (Form-1).
  3. List of Products (Form- 2)
  4. Checklist of Quality Control of Product for Registration (Form-7)
  5. Material Safety Data Sheet (hereinafter referred to as “MSDS”) pursuant to the Law Concerning Reporting, etc. of Releases to the Environment of Specific Chemical Substances and Promoting Improvements in their Management.
  6. Test data on the formaldehyde-emission examination carried out for each product number, the registration of which is applied for by means of Small Chamber by DIA ANALYSIS SERVICE INC., KANEKA TECHNORESEARCH CO., LTD., or the Japan Paint Inspection and Testing Association.

Article 4-2 (Renewal Application Procedures)

Applicant for（Renewal）registration shall file the following documents to the Examination Committee for Registration（hereinafter referred to as the “Committee”）

  1. For renewal, the documentation with names of products, name of the Applicant company, contact address and a guaranteeing statement (Form-8)
  2. List of（Renewal）Products（Form-9）

Applicant may also attach other background references in addition of the above documents

Article 5 (Scope of Application)

Application shall be prepared per product. Provided, however, that multiple applications may be made at one time. Products that differ only in color, quantity or package are regarded as a single product.

Article 6 (Committee and Examination Date)

  1. Application Documents shall be examined by the Committee, which is established by JAIA.
  2. The Committee shall hold an examination date, in principle, three (3) times a year, in June, October, and February, and shall examine the Application Documents filed with the Committee by the 20th day of the preceding month of each examination date.

Article 7 (Examination)

  1. The Committee shall examine the Application Documents, and decide, for each product, whether or not it can be confirmed that the product is, on the Application Documents thereof, a Non-Formaldehyde Product, and that the Application Documents do not contain any cause for doubt (a product on which such confirmation is made is hereinafter referred to as a “Confirmed Product,” and a product on which such confirmation is not made is hereinafter referred to as an “Unconfirmed Product”), and shall report the results to JAIA. The Committee may require the following documents to be filed if it considers them necessary for examination.
    1. Catalog(s), technical data, or the like of the product
    2. List of ingredients of the product etc.
  2. With respect to a Confirmed Product, JAIA shall determine a registration number of six digits (hereinafter referred to as the “JAIA registration number”), enter such number in the confirmation of registration, and notify the registration to the Applicant or the Application Agent thereof by issuing a Confirmation of Registration (Form-3). With respect to an Unconfirmed Product, JAIA shall give to the Applicant or the Application Agent thereof notice in writing to that effect, including the reason therefor. Regarding the renewal, the Confirmation of the renewal registration shall be informed to the Applicant in writing.

Article 8 （Term of Validity of Registered Products and Renewal）

The term of validity of the registered product become due on the last day（March 31）of the Third Accounting year counting from the date of registration.

In case of renewal registration being required at the term end of validity, the Applicant shall apply a renewal registration before the last day（March 31） of the Third Accounting year counting from the date of previous registration.

Article 9 (Use of or Reference to Registration Mark)

  1. As to a Non-Formaldehyde Product in respect of which Confirmation of Registration is issued by JAIA (hereinafter referred to as a “Registered Product”), the JAIA F☆☆☆☆ mark (hereinafter referred to as the “Registration Mark”) may be used on or referred to in the Registered Product, and the MSDS, the product catalogs and the technical data thereof in accordance with Model of Registration Mark (Form-4). In the MSDS, reference shall be made to the JAIA registration number without fail.
  2. Notwithstanding the preceding paragraph, if registration of a Registered Product is not renewed after the expiration of the term of validity thereof in accordance with Article 8, or if it is canceled in accordance with Article 12, Paragraph 2 or Article 13, no use of or reference to the Registration Mark provided for in the preceding paragraph is allowed in respect of such Registered Product. In such case, the Applicant and the Application Agent thereof shall be jointly and severally liable to collect all Registered Products, MSDS’s, product catalogs and technical data on or in which such Registration Mark is used or referred to.

Article 10 (Responsibility of Applicant and Application Agent)

  1. The Applicant of a Registered Product and the Application Agent thereof shall take care so that use of or reference to the Registration Mark does not cause any misunderstanding.
  2. JAIA, members of JAIA, personnel of JAIA, the Committee, and members of the Committee (hereinafter collectively referred to as “JAIA, etc.”) shall assume no responsibility for the quality of a Registered Product, or use of or reference to the Registration Mark in respect of the product, irrespective of whether or not a problem is caused intentionally or through negligence on the part of the Applicant or the Application Agent thereof. With respect to claims from customers concerning the quality of a Registered Product, or use of or reference to the Registration Mark in respect of the product, the Applicant and the Application Agent thereof shall deal with such claims at their responsibility, and JAIA, etc. shall take no responsibility for such claims.
  3. The Applicant of a Registered Product and the Application Agent thereof shall take any and all responsibility for the accuracy of the contents of the Application Documents, especially that the Registered Product is a Non-Formaldehyde Product, and shall jointly and severally indemnify and hold JAIA, etc. harmless from any and all third-party claims for damages and the like, liability, or expenses including, but not limited to, attorney’s fees and other litigation costs, which may arise in connection with use of or reference to the Registration Mark on the Registered Product, or in the MSDS, product catalogs or technical data thereof.

Article 11 (Publication of Registered Product)

JAIA shall publish on its website the JAIA registration number, the name of manufacturer, the type and the product name of a the Registered Product.

Article 12 (Inspection of Registered Product and Cancellation of Registration)

  1. If, due to complaints from customers and the like, any doubt arises with regard to the contents of the Application Documents of a Registered Product, including, but not limited to, doubts that the product is a Non-Formaldehyde Product, the Committee may obtain the Registered Product from market, and have it inspected by means of Small Chamber to measure formaldehyde-emission by any of the independent testing organizations designated in Article 4 vi). The Applicant and the Application Agent thereof shall jointly and severally bear any and all expenses relating to such inspection irrespective of its results.
  2. If any Registered Product is found not to be a Non-Formaldehyde Product as a result of the inspection prescribed in the preceding paragraph, JAIA shall delete such Registered Product both from the confirmation of registration provided for in Article 7, Paragraph 2 and from the website provided for in Article 11, and shall notify the Applicant or the Application Agent thereof regarding such deletion. Registration of a product using the same product name as any product whose registration has been revoked is prohibited.

Article 13 (Expenses)

Any Applicant and the Application Agent thereof shall, upon request by JAIA, jointly and severally pay to JAIA, five thousand yen (\5,000) per application as an application fee, or one thousand yen（\1,000）per renewal as an application fee of renewal registration, and three hundred thousand yen (\300,000) every three (3) years as an Applicant registration fee. If any application fee or Applicant registration fee is not paid, JAIA may cancel the registration of the Registered Product in respect of which the application fee is not paid, or the registration of all of the Registered Products of the Applicant in respect of whom the Applicant registration fee is not paid, as the case may be. The provision of Article 12, Paragraph 2 shall apply mutatis mutandis in this case.

Article 14 (Confidentiality)

Members of the Committee and JAIA personnel concerned therein shall not divulge or use for their own benefit any information that has become known to them in relation to the registration services provided hereunder.

Article 15 (Handling of Disputes)

Disputes which may arise out of or in relation to these Rules or the interpretation thereof shall be submitted for arbitration according to the Commercial Arbitration Rules of The Japan Commercial Arbitration Association held by three (3) arbitrators nominated in accordance with the said Rules. Arbitration shall be governed by the law of Japan and be conducted in Japanese. Arbitration shall be held in Tokyo, Japan.

Article 16 (Language)

All set of application documents, notice, correspondence, and the like pursuant to these Rules shall be made in Japanese. These Rules are prescribed in Japanese. No translation, if any, of these Rules into any other language shall be of any force or effect in the interpretation of these Rules.

Article 17 (Amendment)

These Rules may, from time to time, be amended as necessary, subject to approval of the Board of Directors of JAIA.

Article 18 (Date of Effect)

These Rules shall come into effect as of March 31, 2007.

（Supplementary provisions） First edition of the rules : March 1, 2004（Japanese Year Heisei 16 ） Amendments of the rules〔Second edition〕: March 31, 2007（Japanese Year Heisei 19）

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