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South Korea upgrades chemical regulation heavily! The revised implementation order of K-REACH will come into effect in August
Time：
2025-02-24
South Korea has submitted a revised draft of K-REACH to the WTO to strengthen chemical regulation, including clarifying the classification of hazardous substances, establishing a hazard assessment committee, expanding the scope of assessments, enhancing information disclosure, and optimizing enforcement mechanisms. The public can provide suggestions before April 14th, and it is expected to take effect on August 7th.
On February 13, 2025, the South Korean Ministry of Environment officially submitted a revised draft of the implementation order for the Chemical Registration and Assessment Act (K-REACH) to the World Trade Organization (WTO), aiming to further strengthen the supervision of the entire life cycle of chemicals, protect human health, animal and plant safety, and the ecological environment. The draft has entered the public opinion consultation stage from today onwards, and the public can submit suggestions before April 14, 2025.
This revision focuses on the classification of hazardous substances, assessment mechanisms, and transparency of information disclosure, including the following:
1. Clarify the classification standards for hazardous substances
The draft adds three new definitions of "acute hazardous substances for humans", "chronic hazardous substances for humans", and "ecological hazardous substances", and refines their designated standards to provide clear basis for subsequent risk assessment and management.
2. Establish a hazard assessment committee
The draft provides a legal basis for the establishment of a specialized hazard assessment committee. The committee will serve as a branch of the Korean Chemical Assessment Commission, responsible for systematically reviewing the potential risks of chemical substances and enhancing scientific decision-making capabilities.
3. Expand the coverage of hazard assessment
More chemical substances will be included in the mandatory hazard assessment category, and active screening and control of high-risk substances will be strengthened.
4. Enhance the requirement for information disclosure
The new regulations have expanded the scope of chemical information that must be disclosed. Even if companies apply for protection of trade secrets (CBI) under K-REACH, some key data still need to be disclosed for the purpose of protecting human health and the environment, including chemical substance generic names, uses, safety usage guidelines, waste disposal recommendations, and hazard summaries. This move aims to promote social supervision.
5. Optimize the regulatory enforcement mechanism
The Korea Environment Corporation (KECO) will receive a unified report on the appointment or dismissal of the "sole representative" (OR) and issue a notice. In addition, the regional environmental office will be directly responsible for enterprise data submission, on-site inspections, and other affairs, simplifying cross institutional collaboration processes.
The South Korean Ministry of Environment stated that the revised draft is expected to be officially adopted and take effect on August 7, 2025. After the implementation of the new regulations, the chemical industry needs to comprehensively adjust its compliance strategy to adapt to stricter classification, evaluation, and information disclosure requirements.
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