South Korea Regulatory News

On the 28th of April 2022, the Ministry of Environment, South Korea submits a draft on the labelling and advertising of chemical products. With comments expected to close 40 days from notification...

On the 28^th of April 2022, the Ministry of Environment, South Korea submits a draft on the labelling and advertising of chemical products.

With comments expected to close 40 days from notification, the proposal will be adopted after June 2022 and come into force in August 2023. The notification recommends tighter regulations on the labelling and advertising of chemical products by restricting the use of certain phrases. The phrases include phrases that can be misunderstood as non-toxic, as having no negative impact on the environment/nature, and as having no negative effects on humans/animals. It also restricts phrases that may mislead consumers to think there is no harm which can then lead to excessive use or incorrect use of the product.

The National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) in South Korea updated the regulation on the scope and methods of biocidal substances and biocidal product approval application data under the C...

The National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) in South Korea updated the regulation on the scope and methods of biocidal substances and biocidal product approval application data under the Consumer Chemical Products and Biocides Safety Control Act (K-BPR) on April 8th, 2022.

The scope include:

The Ministry of Environment (MoE) in South Korea is consulting on a draft amendment of Designation of Toxic Substances under Enforcement Decree of the Act on Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals (...

The Ministry of Environment (MoE) in South Korea is consulting on a draft amendment of Designation of Toxic Substances under Enforcement Decree of the Act on Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals (K-REACH).

The draft amendment mainly proposes revisions including:

• New designation of toxic substances for which hazard reviews has been completed (from 2022-1-1099 to 2022-1-1109)
• Update details of toxic substances (35 substances)
• Regulate import declaration and business license for newly designated toxic substances, and transitional measures of labeling and handling standards for hazardous chemical substances

If you have any opinion on this amendment, please write your opinion and submit to the MoE.

The deadline of this consultation is May 9th, 2022.

The Ministry of Environment (MoE) in South Korea pre-announced the legislation to update K-REACH. This is aimed at simplifying K-REACH data submission for new substances under 1 TPA (Tonnes per Annu...

The Ministry of Environment (MoE) in South Korea pre-announced the legislation to update K-REACH. This is aimed at simplifying K-REACH data submission for new substances under 1 TPA (Tonnes per Annum) and easing exemption requirement on new substance reports for Research & Development purposes.

Environmental hazard data (acute toxicity to fish, acute toxicity to daphnia, biodegradability) can be omitted when registering new substances that are manufactured or imported under 1 TPA and when any of the following applies:

·       With water solubility less than 1㎎/ℓ

·       For intermediates use or process regulators use

Also, if an overseas manufacturer/producer does not provide the name and identification number of a substance to be imported due to trade secrets, Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) can be submitted instead.

In February 2022, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) in South Korea proposed amendments to the ‘Regulation on Safety Standards, etc. of Cosmetics’. This is the cosmetics policy enacted...

In February 2022, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) in South Korea proposed amendments to the ‘Regulation on Safety Standards, etc. of Cosmetics’. This is the cosmetics policy enacted in 2015 to guide the manufacture and import of cosmetics and their safety control, it provides a framework for determining the raw materials that can not be used in cosmetics.

The Ministry proposes that persistent pollutants, some components of perfluorinated compounds and 1, 2, 4-trihydroxybenzene should be added to the list of prohibited ingredients while benzalkonium chloride should be prohibited from use as a preservative in spray-type products. It also proposes the maximum limit concentration of ingredients used as hair dye.

Furthermore, some prohibited ingredients are to be established as new exceptions. There are proposed management standards for CBD and THC and radioactive materials and fluorescent brightener 367 have new permissible limits.

The final date to comment on this notification is April 28, 2022. 

National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) in South Korea updated and announced the results of hazard review of chemical substances under K-REACH on February 11th, 2022.The updates are as f...

National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) in South Korea updated and announced the results of hazard review of chemical substances under K-REACH on February 11th, 2022.

The updates are as follows:

·         Update the hazard information of substances with the unique no. “2020-032”, “2020-034”, “2020-041” and “2020-050”

·         Create the hazard information of substances with the unique no. from “2022-170” to “2022-199”

This update came into effect immediately.

The Ministry of Environment (MoE) in South Korea is consulting on a draft amendment of Designation of Substances Subject to Intensive Control under Enforcement Decree of the Act on Registration and ...

The Ministry of Environment (MoE) in South Korea is consulting on a draft amendment of Designation of Substances Subject to Intensive Control under Enforcement Decree of the Act on Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals (K-REACH), which was published on Jan. 28th, 2022.

The draft amendment mainly proposes revisions including:

• Designating 54 types of substances (162 in detailed list) that have been confirmed harmful in the criteria of endocrine system disorders, persistence/bioaccumulation/toxicity, and high persistence/ high bioaccumulation by foreign governments or international organizations
• Deleting 4 types of substances that are Prohibited Substance
• Combining current Appendix 1 and Appendix 2, and grouping substances with similar or identical structures or functional group with specific list under the group

If you have any opinion on this amendment, please write your opinion and submit to the MoE by post.

The deadline of this consultation is Feb 17th, 2022.