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South Korea’s Ministry of Environment (MoE) issued on 3 May 2018 the draft revisions to the Chemical Control Act (CCA) by MoE Notice No.368. The draft revisions are currently undergoing public consultation until 12 Jun 2018.
The revisions mainly focus on introducing a notification mechanism for chemical products (substances or mixtures). The current practice requires manufacturers or importers to submit the Letter of Conformation (LoC) to the Korea Chemical Management Association (KCMA) specifying name, CAS No. content, etc. of regulated chemical substances contained in their chemical products prior to first-time manufacture or import.
However, according to MoE’s inspection, submission of false information or deliberate omission of some ingredients is a widespread problem. Thus the authority plans to strengthen management by adopting a notification mechanism instead of the simple confirmation system.
If the proposal is approved, manufacturers or importers should additionally notify the authority of chemical physical status, hazards and risk information and uses, etc. The notification will be valid for 5 years and update is required before expiration. However, the current confirmation system only requires one-time completion before the first-time manufacture or import. The authority will assign the chemical or chemical product with an identification number after completion of notification and disclose it on the chemical information system, which will facilitate the monitoring of chemical circulating in South Korea. In addition, for manufacturers or importers forging documents or submitting false chemical information, the authority can further require ingredient details and hazard information.
In addition, one provision was newly proposed in which foreign manufacturers can appoint an only representative (OR) to complete the notification in consideration of non-disclosure of chemical ingredients and content to the importer.
Others improvements regarding preparation of an off-site impact analysis report and risk management plan, etc. are also introduced in this proposal.
To align with the revision on CCA, amendments of subordinate regulations and rules of CCA are proposed by MoE Notice No.369 and MoE Notice No.370 respectively. For any comments on the updates, please also contact the authority before 12 Jun 2018 via
Online: http://opinion.lawmaking.go.kr
Email: [email protected]
Fax: 044-201-6830
