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Update: On February 15, 2023, the MoEL officially released the revised Standards for Classification and Labeling of Chemical Substances and Material Safety Data Sheet (MoEL Public Notice No. 2023-9). The updates proposed in January are adopted and take effect immediately.
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On January 27, 2023, the Korean Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) consulted on draft amendments to the Standards for Classification and Labeling of Chemical Substances and Material Safety Data Sheet (MOEL Public Notice No. 2020-130). Comments are welcome before February 6, 2023.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Act (2019 Rev.), new requirements regarding MSDS online submission are implemented in South Korea since January 16, 2021. Grace periods (1~5 years based on tonnage band, see below figure) are offered to buffer industry. The detailed MSDS submission requirements are stipulated in the Standards.
So far, the grace period has expired for companies with an annual tonnage of more than 100 tons. The MoEL completed a nationwide supervision campaign on MSDS in 2022 and found many violations (CL news).
This partial revision is proposed to address problems in actual implementation, specifically for issues concerning contract manufacturing. The proposed updates include the followings.
Updating the definition of “manufacture” (Article 2 Paragraph 1 Item 3)
Currently, “manufacture” means the production, processing or mixing of chemical substances or mixtures for purposes of use, transfer or provision. As proposed, “manufacture” will also cover cases where a company (Original Equipment Manufacturer, a.k.a. OEM) designs the details (performance/function, raw material composition, etc.) and contracts another manufacturer to produce the chemical substances or mixtures under its own name for purposes of use, transfer or provision.
Adding a new provision for providing MSDS (Article 13 Paragraph 4)
An OEM defined in Article 2 Paragraph 1 Item 3, shall provide the contract manufacturer the MSDS or the approval result of CBI non-disclosure application if he has submitted the MSDS or applied for CBI non-disclosure and obtained the results from the authority.
