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 substance.

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 all aspects of registration, including registration tonnage and positions within the consortium. You can check the registration status of each tier in the following Google Sheet.

News updates

From January 1, 2025, the registration threshold for new chemical substances will change from below 0.1 ton to 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#

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

It requires manufacturers or importers of GHS classified products, or Only Representative (OR) appointed by foreign manufacturers, to prepare MSDS and submit them to the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency. If Confidential Business Information (CBI) such as chemical names and contents among the components needs to be replaced with alternative data, a separate application for CBI approval of alternative data must be made.

For existing MSDS issued before the amendment 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)