South Korea to Publish LR Election Results for PECs Requiring Registration under K-REACH in Jan 2016

The election of lead registrants (LR) for priority existing chemical substances (PECs) was concluded on 17 Dec 2015. On 28 Dec 2015, the authority issued a notice that the results of LR election will be published in Jan 2016.

South Korea’s Ministry of Environment issued 510 PEC substances subject to K-REACH registration on 1 July of 2015 (CL news). In the beginning, the authority announced it was to allow enterprise to elect LRs from 1 Dec 2015 to 14 Dec 2015 (CL news), however shortly it extended the starting date to 5 Dec 2015 (CL news) to grant potential registrants more time to join a Chemical Substance Information Communicative Organization (CICO, similar to SIEF, hereafter referred to as the system). The deadline for LR election was also postponed to 17 Dec 2015 for reason of system update. Finally, during the period spanning from the 5 Dec 2015 to 17 Dec 2015, LRs were elected.

For PEC substances that only have one candidate applying to be LR, consent from all other members is required. The public announcement of LR election results will be made at the beginning of Jan of 2016. However, the LR election of 4 substances still requires negotiation to finalize the election by middle January. The 4 substances are:

For PEC substances having two or more candidates, the LR is required to be appointed by a member vote. The candidate that receives the most votes must also be subjected to an additional opinion-soliciting process before final announcement of election results. However for LR election of (1,2-Benzisothiazol-3(2H)-one, CAS NO. 2634-33-5) votes are currently tied meaning further negotiation will also be needed.

It should be noted that not all the 510 substances have a LR as for some substances no one joined the system and for others no one volunteered to be LR. For reference, a document issued on 8 Dec 2015 listing substances (at that time) associated with LR election is attached below. Stakeholders must still wait for the release of the final list of substances with finalized LR. 

Download: PEC substances ready for LR election (updated on 8 Dec 2015)