The Consumer Affairs Agency opened public comment on 21 October on a draft amendment to Japan's food standards that revises residue limits for five pesticides: chlorantraniliprole, 1,3-dichloropropene, tiadinil, thiobencarb and fenazaquin. Comments must be received by 19 November 2026.
Two clocks, one draft
The draft sets separate start dates. Raised limits take effect on the day the notice is published, planned for early February 2027. Limits that are lowered take effect one year after that day. The annex marks each change: a circle for a raised limit, a black dot for a lowered one.
The distinction matters because Japan's Food Sanitation Act bars foods carrying more than 0.01 ppm of a pesticide residue unless a specific limit has been set for that food.
What moves for chlorantraniliprole
The annex raises the limit for brown rice to 0.1 ppm from 0.05 ppm, and for tea to 80 ppm from 50 ppm. Chicory, endive and lettuce rise to 30 ppm from 20 ppm, and cherries to 3 ppm from 1 ppm.
Others fall. Corn drops to 0.05 ppm from 0.6 ppm, azuki-type beans to 0.7 ppm from 1 ppm, and peas and broad beans to 0.3 ppm from 1 ppm. Grapes fall to 1 ppm from 2 ppm.
The other four
Thiobencarb moves the other way on rice: the annex cuts the brown-rice limit to 0.03 ppm from 0.2 ppm, and wheat to 0.01 ppm from 0.05 ppm. For fenazaquin it raises strawberries to 4 ppm from 2 ppm but trims tea to 9 ppm from 10 ppm. Suppliers should check each pesticide and commodity row rather than assume one direction per chemical.
The agency says the changes draw on international standards, domestic and foreign use, and Food Safety Commission assessments. A pesticide subcommittee of the Food Sanitation Standards Council approved the approach on 14 July 2026.
How to respond
Comments go through the e-Gov form or by post to the agency's pesticide residue standards office, in Japanese only. The agency says it will not take comments by telephone or reply individually. These are proposals: nothing changes until the notice is published.