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On June 3rd, 2021, the South Korea’s Ministry of Environment (MoE) issued a Hazardous Chemicals Handling Business Site Compliance Information Manual [1] for enterprises handling hazardous substances. The manual was formulated to strengthen the management and control of hazardous substances, help relevant enterprises to correctly operate hazardous substances, and reduce and prevent chemical accidents.
First, the Manual clarifies the obligations of manufacturers, importers, users, storers, transporters, and traders under the Chemical Control Act (CCA), as well as relevant punishment regulations, and authorities and their contacts. Among them, manufacturers and importers shall fulfill the following obligations:
Submit a specification on the chemical substance (including the applicant's business license, address and other information; and the product or substance type, name, tonnage, use, etc.) to the Korea Chemical Management Association (KCMA);
Cooperate with the local environmental office to complete the statistical survey of chemical substances every two years (ChemLinked News [2]);
Prepare and preserve the chemical substance management manual;
Add labels to containers and packages of hazardous substances;
Obey the ban on the manufacture and import of prohibited substances (reagents can be manufactured or imported after obtaining a permit);
Comply with the handling limit of hazardous substances and never operate exceeding the limit;
Report to the local environmental office and fire department within 15 minutes of the occurrence of a chemical accident.
Second, the Manual stipulates that both new and changed facilities must submit a chemical accident prevention management plan:
New emission facilities can be used only after the enterprise applies and is inspected and approved by the authority. So, the plan for new facilities shall be submitted 60 days before the inspection;
The application for the change of the facility shall be submitted 30 days before the change is completed.
Reason 1 for change: The amount of hazardous substances used has increased from level 1 to level 2
Reason 2 for change: The condition that addition, new installation, and removal of hazardous substances related facilities, and the total scope of influence due to the substance change has increased.
Enterprise that fails to fulfill can be punished with imprisonment of up to 5 years or a fine of not more than 100 million KRW.
Third, for enterprises handling hazardous substances, follow the model of online application and offline inspection. After the enterprise applies online based on the actual situation, the official will conduct regular and random inspections of the enterprise. Enterprise that fails to fulfill can be punished with imprisonment of up to 3 years or a fine of not more than 50 million KRW.
