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The Act on Safety Management of Household Chemical Products and Biocidal Products (K-BPR) was passed by the plenary session of the National Assembly on 28th of Feb and finally promulgated by the president on 20 March as Law No. 15511. The new law will enter into force on 1 Jan 2019.
Main contents of the legislation include:
(1) Management of biocidal active substances and biocidal products
Biocidal active substances should be approved by MoE before being used in biocidal products. For active substances already circulated in the market before the implementation of K-BPR (1 Jan 2019), after notifying the authority, a grace period of up to ten years is applicable based on the individual uses and hazards of the substance. A list of active substances approved for use will be issued by 31 Dec 2019 based on the notified active substances. For those that do not appear on the list, market circulation is prohibited.
Authorization of biocidal products from MoE is required before they are placed on the market. Information, e.g. active substances used, method of use, potential hazards during use should be clearly labelled on the product. In addition, biocide treated articles can only be treated with biocidal products containing active substances approved by the authority.
(2) Management of household chemical products
“Product of Risk Concern” previously regulated under K-REACH will be managed by K-BPR as “household chemical product subject to suitability confirmation”. It is expected to cover more household products under K-BPR. The products are subject to safety assessment every 3 years at specialized labs.
(3) Post-management
Use of terminology such as “safe”, “non-toxic”, “eco-friendly” etc. that may misdirect consumers shall be prohibited. In addition to biocidal products and biocide treated articles, advertisement using terminology such as “antimicrobial”, “degerming” are prohibited.
Household products if found in breach of national safety and labelling standards may be subject to bans, recalls or fines. Thus companies need to pay attention to their responsibilities and obligations.
