South Korea Introduced New Regulations for Chemical Substance Management

In order to further improve certain shortcomings in the existing system, on August 25, 2023, the South Korean Ministry of Environment published Notice No. 2023-502 partially revising the Implementation Regulations of the Act on the Registration and Evaluation of Chemical Substances (K-REACH). This revision will come into effect on January 4, 2024.

Major Changes

1. Simplifies materials of information transmission during chemical substance transfer;

Existing regulations stipulate that a registration number and a declaration number is required when transferring registered chemicals without submitting risk data. However, this may lead to the disclosure of a company's confidential business information (CBI). So it is recommended to simplify the information transmission process by providing registration and declaration status instead.

2. Declaration of changes in products containing substances subject to intensive control;

When the total amount of substances subject to intensive control contained in a product increases by 50% or more, or when the importer or consignor of these products changes, a declaration of changes in substances subject to intensive control will be required, along with reasons for the changes. However, if the content of these substances in the product changes within 30%, no declaration is required.

3. Regulations on the procedure regarding the chemical substances registration and inheritance of identities including declarant; and

The revision adds this new provision: in case of the death of a chemical substance registrant or declarant, or in case of business transfer, or merger of legal chemical substance manufacturers or importers, the heir, assignee or the merged legal entity must be allowed to inherit the identity.

4. Adjusts the payment for substance declaration.

The existing declaration fee for substances subject to intensive control is reduced from 50,000 won to 20,000 won (approximately €35 and €14), and the declaration fee of changes in substances subject to intensive control, chemical substance registration, and the declaration fee of inheritance of identities including declarant is set at 15,000 won and 2,000 won (approximately €10.5 and €1.4) respectively.

The Ministry of Environment in South Korea encourages institutions, organizations, or individuals to submit their opinions by October 24, 2023 (Tel: 044-201-6779 Fax: 044-201-6786). This revision aims to further improve the chemical substance management system and ensure the safety of the public and the environment.

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Further Information

Official Notice