South Korea: Changes to the Act on Registration and Evaluation of Chemical Substances

 

In a recently published ME Public Notice No. 2025-48, South Korea has implemented changes to its Act on Registration and Evaluation of Chemical Substances, which can be compared to the European REACH Regulation.  The changes are:

1. Criteria for designation of hazardous substance [Article 3 & Attachment 1 of the amended Enforcement Decree]

– The definitions of “human acute hazardous substance”, “human chronic hazardous substance”, and “ecologically-hazardous substance” are newly inserted in the Act on Registration and Evaluation of Chemical Substances (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) [Please refer to the partial amendment of the Act of 6 February 2024]. Accordingly, the amended Enforcement Decree states criteria for designating these three categories of hazardous substance.

1. Legal basis for establishment of the Hazards Evaluation Committee as an expert sub-body of the Chemicals Evaluation Committee [Article 7 of the amended Enforcement Decree]
2. Revision of terminology in line with the amended Act [Article 11, Article 20-2, Article 27 and Article 31 of the amended Enforcement Decree]

– In the Act, Article 2(6) is revised, and Article 2(6-2) and Article 2(6-3) are newly inserted, and Article 2(10) is deleted. Accordingly, terminologies in relevant provisions of the Enforcement Decree are also modified in line with the amended Act.

1. As Article 19-3 and Article 42(3) are newly inserted in the Act, chemical substances that the necessity of hazard evaluation is recognized are added into the amended Enforcement Decree. [Article 16 of the amended Enforcement Decree]
2. The amended Enforcement Decree states a broader scope of data that can be disclosed even when data protection is requested pursuant to Article 45 of the Act. [Article 30 of the amended Enforcement Decree]
3. Provisions regarding delegation or entrustment of the authority are amended. To unify interlinked works of different agencies into one agency, the Korea Environment Corporation (KECO) is entrusted to receive a report on appointment or dismissal of only representative (OR), and then issue a notice of reporting. In addition, works regarding submission order of reports or data, and access to facilities and business places under Article 43(1) of the Act are conducted by the head of a regional environmental office. [Article 31 of the amended Enforcement Decree]

The proposed date of entry into force is 7 August 2025.

To find out more about chemical compliance worldwide and in South Korea, please do not hesitate to contact the Product Compliance Institute.