The Act on the Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals (known as Korea REACH) came into force on Jan 1, 2015. The Ministry of Environment (MoE) is responsible for the registration and evaluation of chemical substance under this Act. The purpose of this Act is to protect public health and the environment through these provisions:
  • Registration and notification of chemical substances;
  • Hazard/risk assessment and evaluation of chemical substances;
  • Designation of hazardous chemical substances;
  • Production and utilization of information of chemical substances.

Since the amendment of the K-REACH came into effect in 2019, all existing chemical substances manufactured or imported 1 ton or more per year are subject to registration. Manufacturers and importers who have submitted a pre-registration are granted a grace period for registration based on the volume.

  • Registration deadline: 510 Priority Existing Chemicals ('18) → 1,000 or more tons/year & 1 or above tons/year of CMR (’21) → 100 or more tons/year (’24) → 10 or more tons/year (’27) → 1 or more tons/year (’30)

The registration of existing chemical substances is based on the principle of joint submission. GBUs determine registration and consortium positions by considering tonnage band, data ownership and market competitiveness, etc. You can check the registration status of each tier in the following Google Sheet.


Last developments

Changes of Toxic Substance System under the K-REACH/CCA


Awesome table including all (Pre-)Registration dossiers for all GBUs

This awesome table was built to have an overview of all (Pre-)Registration dossiers for K-REACH. To obtain the overview of all (Pre-)Registration dossiers for K-REACH, please choose the filter Regulation/K-REACH.

Find all Syensqo (Pre-)Registrations under K-REACH here!

From August 7, 2025, the category of former toxic substances will be differentiated into acute hazardous substances, chronic hazardous substances, and ecologically hazardous substances.

From January 1, 2025, the registration threshold for new chemical substances will change from below 0.1 ton to below 1 ton. The notification requirements for new chemical substances below 1 ton will also be revised.

For more information related to these changes, please refer to the link below.

https://www.law.go.kr/lsInfoP.do?lsiSeq=259879&viewCls=lsRvsDocInfoR#


Under the revised Occupational Safety and Health Act (known as Korea OSHA), the new Material Safety DATA Sheet (MSDS) policy was implemented starting January 16, 2021.

According to the new policy, manufacturers or importers of GHS classified products must prepare MSDS and submit them to the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency. Only Representative (OR) appointed by foreign manufacturers may perform this task on behalf of importers. If manufacturers or importers wish to conceal Confidential Business Information (CBI) such as chemical names and contents in the MSDS, and if the CBI components are GHS classified chemical substances, a separate application for CBI approval of alternative data must be submitted.

For existing MSDS issued before the enforcement date of this law, a grace period for submission is provided based on the annual manufacturing/importing quantity.

  • MSDS submission deadline: 1,000 or more tons/year (Jan. 16, 2022) → 100 or more tons/year (Jan.16, 2023) → 10 or more tons/year (Jan. 16, 2024) → 1 or more tons/year (Jan. 16, 2025) → Less than 1 ton/year (Jan. 16, 2026)

MSDS issued after the enforcement date must be submitted before manufacturing/importation without any grace period. However, R&D products are exempt from MSDS submission.

News updates

Further information to be updated.


More questions? Contact Sunmin Park & Anjung Choi from KPRC or contact GPRC team.