The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) of Japan (METI) issued the 9th Table of the proposed repeal of the Battery Amendment Act on 4 November 2022

The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry of Japan (METI) issued on November 4, 2022, the "Notice on the revision of the Partial Interpretation of the Ministry Order to Determine the Technical Standards of Electrical and Product" and the "partial Notice on the revision of the Review Standards of the Disposal of the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry under the Electrical and Material Safety Law". The Battery Amendment Law intends to repeal Section 9 of the Table, The deadline for submissions is December 3, 2022.

Revised terms mainly for lithium batteries:

1. Table 9 does not specify the method for monitoring the voltage of each cell in the battery pack, so it is recommended to abolish Table 9 and unify it with the latest version of IEC62133-2 matching J62133-2 in Table 12.

2. The background of the revision is as follows:

1) According to the safety investigation results of lithium-ion batteries, it is determined that there is no voltage detection for each cell/core in lithium-ion batteries.

2) In the explanation of technical reference, in table 12 corresponding to the latest international standard, there are relevant provisions for detecting the voltage of each cell/core block, on the other hand, there are no explicit provisions in Table 9.

3) Subtable 9 was added to the technical reference interpretation in 2008 as the standard for lithium-ion batteries, which was made by reference to the International Specification (IEC) at that time, but has not been modified since then.

4) On the other hand, with the gradual normalization of the technical benchmark system in 2013, the old standards will be abolished in turn from the perspective of the integration of international norms.

5) On this basis, in order to prevent fire accidents caused by overcharging lithium-ion batteries, it is suggested to modify table 9 and unify it into the latest international standard matching table 12.

Expected implementation Date:

The revision is expected to take effect in mid-December 2022, with a two-year transition period.

PSE certification requirements after the revised standard:

On August 26, 2022, the IECEE official website released the Japan deviation J62133-2(2021) (JP ND) of IEC62133-2, which means that the CB report with Japan deviation can replace the PSE report and issue the PSE certificate. If the cell and battery have CB of IEC62133-2:2017, the following difference test should be added for Japan deviation:

1) The battery cell is charged at a constant voltage for 28 days;

2) Cell and battery temperature cycle test;

3) cell low-pressure test;

4) cell high-rate charging;

5) Forced internal short circuit of the cell;

6) Battery overvoltage;

7) Drop (if applicable).