We examined the inhibitory effect of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) on nitrogen removal in the sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system. The reactor was operated with FILL, REACT (nitrification: denitrification), SETTLE, DRAW and IDLE phases in the duration ratio of 2 : 12 (9 : 3) : 1 : 1 : 8 for a 24 h cycle time. The deterioration of 2,4-DCP removal efficiency from 100 to 41% was observed when the influent concentration of 2,4-DCP was increased to 30mg/L. The residual 2,4-DCP remaining in the mixed liquor was found to inhibit the nitrification process, resulting in the decrease of nitrogen removal efficiency to 25 %. For kinetic study, the result showed that the experimental data of ammoniacal nitrogen (AN) removal at every stage fitted well to the first-order kinetics equation with high R2 values. The rate constant of AN removal, kAN, decreased with increasing influent concentration of 2,4-DCP, from 0.053 to 0.0006/min when 2,4-DCP concentration increased from 0 to 30 mg/L, respectively. However, the observed gradual recovering of AN removal with respect to the removal efficiency and kinetics during the recovery stage indicated that the inhibitory effect of 2,4-DCP on the nitrification process was reversible.