South Korea notifies the draft partial amendment of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Registration and Evaluation of Chemical Substances to the WTO.

On October 31, 2023, the South Korean Ministry of Environment (MoE) notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) of a draft partial amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Registration and Evaluation of Chemical Substances. The amendment covers both phase-in and non-phase-in substances, and it aims to reduce trade barriers and facilitate trade. 

The amendment will be open for comments for 60 days from the date of notification. The proposed date for adaptation and enforcement of the amendment is January 30, 2024. The partial amendment includes the following: 

Currently, the registration obligation under Article 10 of the Act on Registration and Evaluation of Chemical Substances also applies to chemical substances produced by recycling waste. However, in the EU which has a chemical registration instrument like that of Korea, the registration obligation is exempted for chemical substances produced by recycling wastes if other business operators have already completed the registration of the same chemical substance. Therefore, Korea will allow an exemption from the registration of chemical substances produced by recycling wastes if the chemical substance has already been registered by other business operators.