The National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) in South Korea recently issued Announcement No. 56 of 2024, under the Act on Registration and Evaluation, etc. of Chemical Substances. This new regulation, titled Regulations on the Preparation and Provision of Hazard Information for Chemical Substances, mandates that all enterprises submit detailed supply chain information along with risk and hazard data for chemicals under the K-REACH framework.

On September 26, 2024, the Ministry of Environment of South Korea issued the Notice No. 2024-612, announcing significant amendments to the designations of restricted and prohibited substances. The revisions aim to update the usage limits of certain chemicals based on the hazard assessment results under the Chemicals Registration and Evaluation Act, as well as considering related international regulations.

On September 4, 2024, the Ministry of Environment of South Korea issued Notification No. 2024-571, officially announcing a comprehensive revision of the types of persistent pollutants and specific exemption regulations. This revision aims to update and detail the specific chemical names and their CAS numbers of persistent pollutants as defined in the Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Control Act. The revisions also include clarifications on specific exemptions and their expiration dates to ensure environmental protection and public health. Public comments are being solicited from today until September 23, 2024.

Japan Adds 164 General Chemical Substances; South Korea Releases Hazard Assessments for 91 Chemicals and Revises 27 Announced Results.

The Act on the Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals (AREC) (known as K-REACH) is a crucial regulatory framework in South Korea aimed at ensuring the safe management of chemical substances. Under K-REACH, manufacturers and importers of chemical substances are required to register their chemicals with the Ministry of Environment (MoE) if they exceed certain manufacture or importation volumes. One of the critical stipulations of K-REACH concerns the tonnage bands for chemical registration. Specifically, enterprises dealing with existing chemical substances within the 100-1,000 tons per year range must complete their registration by December 31, 2024.

To promote K-REACH registration and alleviate the pressure on registering companies, the South Korean government has introduced a series of government support programs.

In order to promote K-REACH registration and reduce the registration cost for small and medium-sized enterprises in South Korea, South Korea's government announced the registration whole process support program (the fifth time) in March 2024.

South Korea is to revise its Act on the Registration and Evaluation of Chemical Substances (known as K-REACH). The amendments were approved by South Korea's National Assembly on January 9, 2024. Major changes cover: 1. The tonnage of new chemical substances notification is adjusted from "below 0.1t/y" to "below 1t/y"; 2. Disclose the notification information of new chemical substances below 1tpa. For CBI substances, the generic names should be disclosed; and 3. New chemical substances below 1t/y will be reviewed.

On October 4, 2023, in accordance with the Act on the Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals, the National Institute of Environmental Research in Korea released Notice No. 2023-460 on revision of Classification and Labeling Regulations for Chemical Substances.

On August 10, 2023, the South Korean Ministry of Environment (MOE) published Notice No.2023-183 revising the volume of toxic, restricted, prohibited, and permitted substances in accordance with the Regulations on the Implementation of the Chemical Substance Management Act. The revision this time aims to enhance the management of chemicals and safeguard public health and the environment.