South Korea Bans 623 Household Products from Market in H1 2022

On August 11, 2022, South Korea’s Ministry of Environment (MoE) and the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute (KEITI) announced that during the first half of 2022 there were 623 household products¹ banned from manufacture, importation and distribution due to violations of safety and labelling standards under the Act on Safety Management of Consumer Chemical Products and Biocides (also called K-BPR).

These products have been listed on the Hazardous Products Sales Prevention System (http://upss.gs1kr.org) and are subject to an immediate ban in stores and supermarkets. In addition, the sale through e-commerce was forbidden by the Korean online shopping association.

As for these products, 543 products were found that they have not fulfilled a mandatory safety standard self-check prior to market circulation,68 products were found exceeding the maximum permitted concentration for hazardous substances specified in the safety standard, and 12 products were mislabeled.

The 68 products that contain hazardous substances in excess of safety standards include:

• adhesives for beauty (26),

• tattoo inks (15),

• gloss coatings (7),

• air fresheners (7), and

• others (13).