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The Ministry of Environment of Korea (MoE) published the Act on Registration and Evaluation, etc of Chemical Substances (known as K-REACH) on January 1, 2015.  (The last update on 2024. 07. 10.). K-REACH aims to protect public health and the environment. This is achieved by four procedures: notification or registration, evaluation, authorization, and restriction of chemicals.

Under K-REACH, manufacturers or importers of a new chemical substance need to register the substances before manufacture or import. Substances less than 100 kg/ year (1t/year from January 1, 2025) only require notification and do not need to go through hazard evaluation. 

Manufacturers or importers of a Priority Existing Chemicals (PEC) substance must register the substances before manufacturing or importing. Pre-registration of PEC substances is impossible as the transition period has already passed.

Existing substances above 1 Tonne Per Annum (TPA) must be registered within grace periods. Only companies that carried out pre-registration can be entitled to the grace periods. The grace periods vary based on the tonnage band. After the grace periods for each tonnage band, existing substances within that tonnage band cannot be pre-registered, and they should be registered before placing the substances in Korea.

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South Korea provides a guide to the classification of biocidal product types under K-BPR
South Korea provides a guide to the classification of biocidal product types under K-BPR

National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) in South Korea published a guide to the classification of biocidal product types on Aug 18th, 2021. This is to help industry to examine different...

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South Korea simplifies K-REACH data submission for duplicate data requirements
South Korea simplifies K-REACH data submission for duplicate data requirements

The Ministry of Environment (MoE) in South Korea updated K-REACH to simplify data submission for duplicate data requirements. According to K-REACH enforcement rule article 36, chemical substance safety information shall be...

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