South Korea aims to make cars safe from chemicals.

On November 11, 2023, the Ministry of Environment (Minister Han Hwa-jin) announced that it will implement a ‘Chemical-Safe Car Management’ initiative as part of the 4th Chemical Safety Week. The announcement was made at a ceremony held at Seoul Dragon City (located in Yongsan-gu, Seoul), and attended by five domestic car manufacturers, Hyundai Motor Company, Kia, GM Technical Center Korea, Renault Korea Motors, and Keiji (KG) Mobility. 

The ceremony was also attended by the Korea Consumer Agency and the Korea Automobile Mobility Industry Association, who pledged to cooperate with the Ministry of Environment and the car manufacturers to  

• Only use safe biocides in cars that contain various biocidal products,  

• Reduce the use of chemical substances,  

• Eliminate misleading claims such as antibacterial, and  

• Conduct voluntary regulation and continuous communication and mutual cooperation. 

The ‘Biocidal Products Safety Management Guideline for Automobiles’ was jointly developed by the Ministry of Environment and the domestic car industry, in preparation for the upcoming enforcement of the Act on the Safety Management of Household Chemicals and Biocidal Products, which will require the car industry to use approved biocidal products for biocidal products and to properly label and advertise them. 

The use of approved biocidal products for biocidal products and the labeling and advertising obligations for processed products will be enforced from January 1, 2027. 

Minister of Environment Han Hwa-jin said at the ceremony: “We hope that the environmental management of cars will be expanded to include not only the control of air pollutant emissions but also the safety of chemicals that may be exposed during the production and use of cars.” 

Yoon so-hyun, head of the Korea Consumer Agency, said: “We have created the first guideline for the car sector that uses various biocides as components, so that we can improve the chemical management system in cras and effectively protect consumer safety.” 

The Ministry of Environment and the Korea Consumer Agency will also use the Business Periodic Consultative Body to establish a self-management system and competitiveness in the distribution network, focusing on items closely related to daily life, and providing consumers with safe chemical products that they can trust. 

A consultative body established and operated by the Korea Consumer Agency, consisting of 13 companies in 146 industries, including cars, home appliances, and distribution, to carry out various activities such as pre-emptive response to consumer safety issues and risk prevention.