South Korea Expands the Exemption Scope of K-CCA to Avoid Duplicative Management

On February 13, 2022, the South Korean Ministry of Environment (MoE) announced that products, which have been designated as “household chemical products subject to safety confirmation” or have obtained biocidal product approval under the Act on Safety Management of Household Chemical Products and Biocides (a.k.a. K-BPR), can be exempted from Chemical Control Act (a.k.a. K-CCA) since February 14, 2022 to avoid duplicative management. K-CCA and its subordinate regulations are under amendment to adopt such exemptions.

The MoE has previously waived some obligations of such products through amendments to the K-CCA Enforcement Rules, such as wearing personal protective gear suitable for handling hazardous chemical substances and maintaining/managing handling facility appropriately to assure its proper performance. However, the obligation to label hazardous chemical substances of such products has been withheld. According to the current regulation, if the main ingredient of a household chemical product is a hazardous chemical substance, the manufacturers, as well as stores/marts, pharmacies, and courier companies, etc. that store or sell the product shall comply with the management under K-CCA, i.e., labelling of the hazardous chemical substance shall be affixed to the followings even if the product is circulated by small packaging:

1.     Handling facilities and sites where enterprises handle the hazardous chemical substances;

2.     Vehicles that transport the hazardous chemical substances;

3.     Containers or packages of the hazardous chemical substances; and

4.     Places where enterprises keep/store/display the hazardous chemical substances;

For the biocidal products, e.g., solid insect repellents, which are widely used in daily life, and household chemical products that are circulated in small packages, they have low risks of accidents during handling. Considering the fact that similar management are also stipulated in K-BPR, the South Korean MoE published this announcement, aiming to relieve compliance burden caused by duplicative management under K-BPR and K-CCA.

Below are two tables indicating “household chemical products subject to safety confirmation” and “biocidal products” under K-BPR, which can be exempted from corresponding Hazchem labeling obligations under K-CCA.

Table 1 Household Products Subject to Safety Confirmation under K-BPR

 Table 2 Biocidal Products under K-BPR

 The official document can be downloaded here.