Korea MoEL Requires SDS Online Submission from 2021

The revised Occupational Safety and Health Act^[1] (OSHA) was promulgated as Law No. 16272 on January 15, 2019 (CL news^[2]). One of the major amendments requires the submission of SDS to the Ministry of Employment and Labour (MoEL) within five years after the amendment is implemented (from January 16, 2021).

The OSHA Enforcement Decree^[3] and Enforcement Rules^[4] were revised in December 2019 accordingly. Several notable amendments are highlighted below.

SDS Submission and Update

Manufacturers and importers are required to submit SDS before manufacture or importation via the SDS IT system managed by the Occupational Safety Health Administration (K-OSHA) under MOEL (Article 157 of Enforcement Rules). For mixtures, components that do not fall under the hazard classification criteria require submission of a confirmation letter to the MoEL using a form No.62 of the Enforcement Rules if the components haven’t been listed on the SDS. 

An updated SDS shall be submitted immediately if any changes occur in (Article 159 of Enforcement Rules):

• the product name

• the name or content of components falling under GHS classification criteria

• health, environmental and physical hazards

The SDS shall be provided to the downstream links with a unique code obtained via the SDS IT system (Article 160 of Enforcement Rules).

CBI Non-disclosure on SDS

The MoEL allows manufacturers and importers to claim CBI non-disclosure on SDS with the following documents (Article 161 of Enforcement Rules), including:

1. evidence materials for justification of CBI claim

2. alternative chemical name and content range

3. chemical name, concentration, information on health, environmental and physical hazards that to be claimed as confidential

4. SDS

5. name or content of components that are not falling under GHS classification criteria;

6. Others specified by the MoEL

The CBI application will be reviewed within a month (within two weeks for R&D chemicals) and may be extended up to an additional ten days if necessary (Article 162 of Enforcement Rules). The CBI protection will be valid for five years, and the extension application is accepted up to 30 days before expiration.

Only Representative

Overseas manufacturers are allowed to appoint an only representative based in Korea to submit SDS and apply for CBI protection (Article 166 of Enforcement Rules). The appointment and dismissal of the only representative shall be reported to the MoEL.

Grace Period

The provisions mentioned above regarding SDS submission and CBI application will come into force on January 16, 2021. Transitional measures were introduced based on volume to buffer industry in Article 9 of the Supplementary Provision of the K-OSHA Enforcement Rule, including:

• >1,000 t/y: before January 16, 2022

• 100-1,000 t/y: before January 16, 2023

• 10-100 t/y: before January 16, 2024

• 1-10 t/y: before January 16, 2025

• <1 t/y: before January 16, 2026

More details please refer to the revised Standards for Classification and Labeling of Chemical Substances and Material Safety Data Sheet by Public Notice No.2020-130.