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On 14 May 2013, South Korea’s Ministry of Employment and Labor (MoEL) published a list of 2,745 new chemical substances notified between 2005 and 2009 by MoEL Notice No. 2013-124. The English name of the new chemical substance, CAS No.( if available), hazard properties and corresponding risk control measures have been disclosed to the public.
The Notification System of New Chemicals in Korea has been governed by Toxic Chemical Control Act (TCCA) and Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). Manufacturers and importers of new chemical substances exceeding 0.1 tonne per year are required to apply to the National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) under MoE for notification or apply to the Korea Chemicals Management Association (KCMA) for confirmation of exemption before entering the market. However, registration of new chemical substances shall be transferred to K-REACH when it comes into force as of 1 Jan 2015. All new chemical substances are required to be registered under K-REACH, regardless of the tonnage. The specified exemption conditions for new chemical registration under K-REACH will be negotiated with the MoEL.
As specified by K-REACH, the companies can rest assured that the new chemical substance already notified under TCCA can be considered as having been registered under K-REACH. However, if any changes to the original registration conditions have occurred, such as the tonnage band, uses, hazard information, etc., the registration information should be updated and the substance should be re-registered or notified of the changes under K-REACH. Considering the fact of data requirements under K-REACH that “higher tonnage band, more data requirements”, earlier new chemical registration under current TCCA can be considered.
For further reference, MoEL Notice No. 2013-124 is released attached with a list of 1146 new chemical substances notified prior to 2005, which was published on 12 July 2007 by MoEL Notice No. 2007-148. So far, around 5,000 new chemical substances have been notified under TCCA since 1991.
