Annex) 
 
Partial amendments of the “Announcement that prescribes Details of Safety 
Regulations for Road Transport Vehicles”, etc. 
 
February 2016 
Road Transport Bureau, MLIT  
 
 1. Background to the Amendments  
The Central Environment Council submitted recommendations on “Future Policy 
for Vehicle Emission Reduction” in its 12th report in February 2015. 
There are summaries below concerning the introduction of the Worldwide 
Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) for emissions testing of 
passenger and commercial vehicles with gross vehicle weight of 3.5 tons or less. 
In accordance with the recommendations and in order to introduce WLTP for 
passenger and commercial vehicles with gross vehicle weight of 3.5 tons or less, 
MLIT will implement partial revisions of Public Notice of MLIT No. 619 (2002), 
etc. (hereinafter referred to as the “Announcement that Prescribes Details”)”. 
 
2．Outline of the Amendment  
(1) Change of test mode for emissions tests and limit values  
(Announcement that Prescribes Details, Articles No.41 and No. 119, etc.) 
Ⅰ For passenger vehicles with a capacity of 9 passengers or less and passenger 
vehicles with a capacity of 10 passengers or more (gross vehicle weight of 3.5 
tons or less), that run on gasoline, diesel oil or liquefied petroleum gas (except 
passenger vehicles with a capacity of 11 passengers or more and gross vehicle 
weight of 3.5 tons or less, that run on liquefied petroleum gas) and commercial 
vehicles with gross vehicle weight of 3.5 tons or less, that run on gasoline or 
diesel oil (hereinafter “passenger and commercial vehicles with gross vehicle 
weight of 3.5 ton or less”), the emissions test cycle will be changed (from 
currently conducted testing cycle JC08 mode) to WLTP, the Global Technical 
Regulations (GTR) that were established by the UN. The WLTP test cycle will 
include low-speed, medium-speed and high-speed phases of classes 3a or 3b as 
described in the tables below. This is because few vehicles are classified as 
class 1 or class 2 in Japan. The test cycle will not include the extra-high phase, 
which does not match actual driving patterns in Japan.   
  
Test cycle of WLTP 
＜For vehicles with maximum speeds below 120 km/h (class 3a)＞ 
 
＜For vehicles with maximum speeds of 120 km/h or higher (class 3b)＞ 
 
Ⅱ For passenger vehicles with gross vehicle weight above 3.5 tons and a 
capacity of 10 passengers, the emission test cycle will be changed (from 
currently conducted testing cycle JC08 mode) to WHDC or JE05 for 
harmonization with the GTRs. 
  
 
(2) Changes to limit values for gas emissions 
(Announcement that Prescribes Details, Articles No.41 and No. 119, etc.) 
Limit values for gas emissions will change as shown in the tables below. 
 
 020406080100120
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800Speed (km/h)
Time (sec)Low-speed phase Medium-speed phaseHigh-speed phase
020406080100120
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800Speed (km/h)
Time (sec)Low-speed phaseMedium-speed phaseHigh-speed phase 
  
 
 
New limit values for gas emissions under WLTP 
＜For passenger and light-weight commercial vehicles which run on gasoline or 
liquefied petroleum gas＞ 
 
Regulated 
substances Test 
mode Limit value【g/km】 Test 
mode Limit value
【g/km】 
Carbon 
monoxide 
（CO） 
JC08 1.15※1 
WLTC 1.15※1 
Non-methane 
hydrocarbon 
（NMHC） 0.05※1 0.10※1 
Nitrogen oxide
（NOx） 0.05※1 0.05※1 
Particulate 
material 
（PM）※2 0.005※1 0.005※1 
※１The regulated values in the table above indicate average value. The 
maximum value will regulated according to permissible limit of the amount 
of automobile exhaust gas which will be revised by Ministry of 
Environment. 
※2 Only for gasoline-fueled direct injection vehicles equipped with an 
occlusion-type NOx reduction catalyst.   
 
＜For mini-sized commercial vehicles which run on gasoline or liquefied petroleum 
gas ＞ 
 
Regulated 
substances Test 
mode Limit value【g/km】 Test 
mode Limit value
【g/km】 
Carbon 
monoxide 
（CO） JC08 4.02※1 WLTC 4.02※1  
 Non-methane 
hydrocarbon 
（NMHC） 0.05※1 0.10※1 
Nitrogen oxide
（NOx） 0.05※1 0.05※1 
Particulate 
material 
（PM）※2 0.005※1 0.005※1 
※１The regulated values in the table above indicate average value. The 
maximum value will regulated according to permissible limit of the amount 
of automobile exhaust gas which will be revised by Ministry of 
Environment.  
※2 Only for gasoline-fueled direct injection vehicles equipped with an 
occlusion-type NOx reduction catalyst. 
 
＜For medium-weight commercial vehicles which run on gasoline or liquefied 
petroleum gas ＞ 
 
Regulated 
substances Test 
mode Limit value【g/km】 Test 
mode Limit value
【g/km】 
Carbon 
monoxide 
（CO） 
JC08 2.55※1 
WLTC 2.55※1 
Non-methane 
hydrocarbon 
（NMHC） 0.05※1 0.15※1 
Nitrogen oxide
（NOx） 0.07※1 0.07※1 
Particulate 
material 
（PM）※2 0.007※1 0.007※1 
※１The regulated values in the table above indicate average value. The 
maximum value will regulated according to permissible limit of the amount 
of automobile exhaust gas which will be revised by Ministry of 
Environment.  
※2 Only for gasoline-fueled direct injection vehicles equipped with an  
 occlusion-type NOx reduction catalyst. 
 
＜For passenger and light-weight commercial vehicles which run on diesel oil ＞ 
 
Regulated 
substances Test 
mode Limit value【g/km】 Test 
mode Limit value
【g/km】 
Carbon 
monoxide 
（CO） 
JC08 0.63※1 
WLTC 0.63※1 
Non-methane 
hydrocarbon 
（NMHC） 0.024※1 0.024※1 
Nitrogen oxide
（NOx） 0.08※1 0.15※1 
Particulate 
material 
（PM） 0.005※1 0.005※1 
※１The regulated values in the table above indicate average value. The 
maximum value will regulated according to permissible limit of the amount 
of automobile exhaust gas which will be revised by Ministry of 
Environment.  
 
＜For medium-weight commercial vehicles which run on diesel oil＞ 
 
Regulated 
substances Test 
mode Limit value【g/km】 Test 
mode Limit value
【g/km】 
Carbon 
monoxide 
（CO） 
JC08 0.63※1 
WLTC 0.63※1 
Non-methane 
hydrocarbon 
（NMHC） 0.024※1 0.024※1 
Nitrogen oxide
（NOx） 0.15※1 0.24※1 
Particulate 
material 
（PM） 0.007※1 0.007※1 
※１The regulated values in the table above indicate average value. The  
 maximum value will regulated according to permissible limit of the amount 
of automobile exhaust gas which will be revised by Ministry of 
Environment.  
 
(3) Other matters 
(Attachment 42 of Announcement that Prescribes Details, etc.) 
Necessary revisions will be made to include the establishment of the WLTP 
emissions test method.  
 
 
3．Date of enforcement of obligation  
① New Type Approval Vehicles 
Types of Vehicles Date of enforcement of obligation 
Passenger vehicles, light-weight 
commercial vehicles 1 October, 2018 
Mini-sized commercial vehicles, 
medium-weight commercial vehicles 1 October, 2019 
 
② New vehicles other than the above-mentioned vehicles 
Types of Vehicles Date of enforcement of obligation 
Passenger vehicles, light-weight 
commercial vehicles 1 September, 2020 
Mini-sized commercial vehicles, 
medium-weight commercial vehicles 1 September, 2021 
 
 
4．Planned Schedule  
Date of Publication: Spring of 2016 
Date of Entry into Force: Autumn of 2016