Korea

Overview of Chemical Regulations in Korea

Little Pro on 2015-12-31

In Korea, many ministries are involved in managing chemicals to protect human health or the environment from the hazard of chemicals. Chemicals are regulated by various laws based on their uses and hazard properties. The table below summarizes some main chemical control laws and corresponding authorities in Korea.

Products Laws & Authority
Industrial Chemicals
  • The Act on Registration and Evaluation, etc of Chemical Substances(K-REACH) - the Ministry of Environment;
  • Chemical Control Act(CCA) - the Ministry of Environment;
  • Consumer Chemical Products and Biocides Safety Act - the Ministry of Environment;
  • Occupational Safety and Health Act(OSHA) - the Ministry of Employment and Labor;
Cosmetics
  • Cosmetics law - the Ministry of Health and Welfare
Pharmaceuticals
  • Pharmaceutical Affairs Law - the Ministry of Health and Welfare
Food additives
  • Food Sanitation Law - the Ministry of Agriculture
Pesticides
  • Agrochemicals Control Act- the Ministry of Agriculture
Ozone layer depleting substances and radioactive substances etc.
  • Other specific laws - various ministries.

 

In this topic, we will focus on industrial chemical laws.

The Act on Registration and Evaluation, etc of Chemical Substances

The Act on Registration and Evaluation, etc of Chemical Substances(K-REACH) was promulgated on 22 May 2013 by the Ministry of Environment in South Korea and it comes into force on 1 Jan 2015. The Act is also well-known as Korea REACH due to its similarity to the EU REACH regulation.

Under K-REACH, any person who intends to manufacture or import a new chemical substance or at least one ton per year of an existing chemical substance subject to registration shall register the chemical substance before he/she manufactures or imports. K-REACH also sets out requirements for companies to notify products containing hazardous chemicals substance.

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Chemical Control Act(CCA)

The chemicals control act(previously toxic chemicals control act) passed national assembly in May in 2013 and it comes into force on 1 Jan 2015. It is a new law focusing on chemical reporting and chemical accident prevention. Under CCA, any person who manufactures or imports a chemical shall verify if their chemical product contains any regulated substance and submit the details to the Ministry of Environment. Any person who intends to set up and operate toxic chemicals handling facilities shall prepare off-site consequence analysis report that evaluates the impact of a potential chemical accident on the surrounding environment and population.

CCA also requires that any person who handles accident prone chemicals in excess of a certain amount prepare and submit a contingency plan every five years.

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Occupational Safety and Health Act(OSHA)

OSHA regulates the use of chemicals in workplace with a goal of protecting workers from exposure to hazardous chemicals. Like K-REACH, OSHA requires that any person who manufactures or imports new substances register the new substances with the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MoEL). OSHA also sets out detailed requirements for the preparation, keeping, submission and communication of safety data sheets (SDSs). In addition, OSHA requires MoEL to set occupational exposure limits for harmful agents, many of which are chemicals.

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Consumer Chemical Products and Biocides Safety Act (Proposed)

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 products and biocide-treated articles. It is expected to be published in 2018 and come into force on 1 Jan 2019.

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, the Act requires that companies comply with relevant product safety and labelling standards and confirm compliance to authority by carrying out testing 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.

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