On April 6, 2016, Korean Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) published the revised Standards for Classification and Labeling of Chemical Substances and Material Safety Data Sheet by Public Notice No.2016-19, which entered into force immediately.

By adopting the hazard category “hazardous to the ozone layer” and revising some of the hazard statements and precautionary statements, the new standards update the 2013 standards (MOEL Public Notice No.2013-37) to align with UN GHS Rev.4 (2011). MOEL pre-announced these changes in a Feb 19 circular at the same time as opening the draft revisions to public consultation. No further change is found between the technical contents in MOEL Public Notice No. 2016-19 and in its consultation draft. (See the comparison of the 2016 and 2013 Korea GHS standards in CL news 2016-03-02.)

In accordance with the transitional provision in Public Notice No.2016-19, classification, labeling and SDS preparation conducted in accordance with Annex 1, 2 and 4 of Public Notice No.2013-37 are acceptable until April 6, 2017.