The agreement goes into effect once the Ministry of Health and Welfare clears the products for sale. That approval is expected during FY 1999. MHW approved for marketing VISX, INC.'s excimer laser system for phototherapeutic keratectomy, a procedure to treat corneal scars and dystrophies of the eye. The Santa Clara, California company is the first U.S. manufacturer to win such approval, although testing started in early 1993. Its subsidiary will distribute and service the system.
Japan is the world's second-largest market for laser vision correction.
That identification means that noise can be suppressed at the source, a more effective and less expensive way of lowering emissions than the commonly employed techniques of shielding and filtering. A nonincineration method for handling hazardous and nonhazardous wastes will be commercially available in Japan next year. EnviPac, which has offices in Hiroshima and Hawaii, is required to purchase an industrial-sized PWC demonstration system in 1998 and to meet minimum annual sales levels starting in 1999.