Little Pro on 2018-02-07
The Consumer Chemical Products and Biocides Safety Act is a new chemical regulation proposed by the Ministry of Environment (MOE) in South Korea. Also known as K-BPR, the Act regulates consumer chemical products, biocidal product and biocide-treated articles. It is promuglated on 20 March 2018 and will come into force on 1 Jan 2019. In this article, we will give you a preview of the Act and summarize how to comply with this new regulation.
Disclaimer: The final text of the new regulation has not been published yet. This article is based on the latest available info from official presentations and ChemicalWatch news.
The Consumer Chemical Products and Biocides Safety Act (K-BPR) can be broken into 2 parts: consumer chemical products and biocides. The consumer chemical product part is transferred from K-REACH while the biocide part is taken from EU biocidal products regulation (BPR). For consumer chemical products designated as products subject to safety confirmation, the Act requires that companies comply with relevant product safety and labelling standards and confirm compliance to authority by carrying out testing in designated labs (KEITI, etc.) once every 3 years. For biocidal products (both active substances and formulated products), the Act requires that companies apply for pre-market approval from the Ministry of Environment (MOE). In addition, the Act has set some rules for biocide-treated articles.
The table below is the break-down of the proposed consumer chemical products and biocides safety act (not final text).
Chapter I |
General Provisions |
Chapter II |
Consumer Chemical Products
|
Chapter III |
Biocides Approval and Authorization
|
Chapter IV |
Post-management on Consumer Chemical Products and Biocides |
Chapter V to VII |
Supplementary Provisions, Penalty and Other |
The definition of consumer chemical products and biocides is listed as follows:
Consumer chemical products |
|
Biocidal active substances |
|
Biocidal products |
|
Biocide-treated articles |
|
The following products are out of scope. For example, preservatives used in food and cosmetics will be exempt.
The Act requires that consumer chemical product companies comply with relevant product safety and labelling standards and confirm compliance to authority by carrying out testing in designated labs once every 3 years . Since 2015, the Ministry of Environment (MoE) has designated dozens of products subject to safety confirmation and established relevant labelling and safety standards: cleaning agents, synthetic detergents, bleaching agents, fabric softeners, coatings, adhesives (including glues), fragrances, deodorants, ironing auxiliaries, ink cartridges and toners and algicides. The standards set the list of restricted and banned substances, labelling and packaging requirements.
The table below is the example of the safety and labelling standard for cleaning agents.
Cleaning agents |
Chemicals used for cleaning oven, stove hood, bathroom, plates, carpets, building floor, shoes, furniture, automotive, air conditioners, musical instrument, mildew remover, stain remover, etc. |
Restriction |
|
Ban |
|
Labelling |
General labelling requirements:
Additional labelling requirements: If a product contains the following substances, it shall be labelled "toxic" along with the name, feature and content of the substances regardless of the content.
|
Packaging |
Child protection package are required for a liquid product containing any one or more of the following substances or powder product containing more than 2% or more sodium hydroxide/potassium hydroxide.
|
Like EU BPR, the Act requires that all biocidal products require MOE's approval before they can be placed on the Korean market, and the active substances contained in that biocidal product must also be previously approved by the MOE. Active substances and biocidal products are approved based safety and efficacy.
For biocidal products that have already been placed on Korean market before the Act comes into force, companies are required to notify their market circulation info to authorities. The MOE will then set varied grace periods for those notified biocidal products.
Anyone who manufactuers or imports a biocidal active substance contained in a biocidal product placed on Korean market before 31 Dec 2018 shall notify their company info, the name of the active substance, biocidal product type and composition, manufacturing or import volume to the MOE in order to get grace periods for active substance approval and product authorization.
The Act requires that articles only be treated with biocidal products containing active substances that have been approved in Korea. Any person who purchases treated articles can be provided or ask suppliers for biocidal chemicals info. If manufacturer claims that a treated article has biocidal properties, the manufacturer must label the treated article with info on biocidal products used and potential risks.
Anyone who imports or manufactures consumer chemical products subject to safety confirmation or biocides shall keep the records for 10 years. In addition, they shall report the following information to the MOE every 2 years:
Suppliers of consumer chemical products |
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Manufacturers and importers of biocidal active substances |
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Manufacturers and suppliers of biocidal products |
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Manufactures and suppliers of treated articles. |
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Tags: Topics - Korea, Biocidal Products Regulation