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South Korea’s Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment has issued a draft amendment to its regulations on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) to reflect recent updates adopted under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. The proposal would add new substances to the country’s list of prohibited POPs and revise existing exemption provisions.  

The amendment proposes the inclusion of three additional substances in Annex 1 of South Korea’s POPs regulation following their listing in Annex A (elimination category) of the Stockholm Convention: 

• Methoxychlor (CAS No. 72-43-5) 

• Dechlorane Plus (CAS No. 13560-89-9) 

• UV-328 (CAS No. 25973-55-1) 

These substances, along with their isomers and related compounds, would officially be regulated as persistent pollutants in South Korea.  

Proposed Exemptions for Industrial and Essential Uses 

The draft also updates specific exemptions for industrial and essential-use applications. Limited exemptions for decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209; CAS No. 1163-19-5) would continue to apply for certain household appliance components and legacy vehicle parts under controlled conditions.  

Exemptions for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA; CAS No 335-67-1), its salts, and related compounds would remain for uses such as semiconductor manufacturing, medical devices, industrial filtration membranes, fluoropolymer production, and already-installed firefighting foam systems. Some exemptions are proposed to continue until June 2030.  

Temporary exemptions are also proposed for dechlorane plus in aerospace, defence, medical imaging equipment, and replacement parts.  

For UV-328, exemptions would continue for selected automotive parts, industrial coatings, TAC films, and photographic paper applications for up to five years from the effective date of the regulation.  

The revised regulation would take effect upon promulgation. However, the newly listed substances would only become enforceable once the relevant amendments to the Stockholm Convention officially enter into force in South Korea.