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On April 8, 2026, South Korea's Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment (MCEE) issued the draft partial amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Act on Registration and Evaluation of Chemical Substances (K-REACH) for public comments until May 18, 2026. The draft partial amendment aims to extend the temporary special provision allowing companies to submit testing plans in place of actual test data for certain chemical registrations. By MCEE Notice No. 2026-386 on April 13, the MCEE announced an update to shorten the public consultation period for the draft partial amendment, establishing a new comment deadline of April 21, 2026, replacing the previous deadline of May 18, 2026.
Background
The proposed update is designed to address severe disruptions in the global chemical supply chain caused by wars, international disputes, or trade restrictions imposed by trading partners. To prevent supply crises and support the stable operation of domestic manufacturing industries, the government is extending the relief measures while striving to maintain the necessary data management framework for chemical safety.
Proposed Changes
The draft partial amendment extends the timeframe of an existing special provision, moving the expiration date from December 31, 2021, to December 31, 2027. This provision permits the temporary substitution of a broad range of required testing data—covering physicochemical properties, human health hazards, and environmental hazards—with a formal testing plan during the chemical registration process. However, registrants are still mandated to submit any relevant test documents they already possess.
Who is Affected
These proposed changes primarily impact chemical manufacturers and importers operating in South Korea who are experiencing, or are at risk of experiencing, significant setbacks in securing chemical supplies from overseas due to geopolitical or trade issues. The exemption is not universally applicable; it specifically targets chemical substances for which the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy officially requests a special application in consultation with the MCEE.
Companies utilizing these provisions must ensure their testing plans align with the specific hazard categories outlined in the revised K-REACH Enforcement Rules and prepare to meet standard data requirements for registrations occurring after the December 2027 threshold.
Early Application
The MCEE has applied this temporary special exemption early, effective April 10, 2026, through an active administration review board, while the formal amendment to the K-REACH Enforcement Rules is being finalized. This primarily benefits industries with a high dependence on overseas raw materials, such as the petrochemical, paint, and plastics manufacturing sectors. By utilizing this temporary special exemption, the preparation time for chemical registration documents is expected to drop from several months to just a few days.
