South Korean Releases Enforcement Rules for New Chemical Safety Legislation

The South Korean Ministry of Environment released a set of rule provisions that provide enforcement details for the newly enacted Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals (Law No. 11789).  Under the newly released provisions, the annual tonnage threshold of one metric ton for existing substances remains unchanged.  Article 9 of the decrees requires the Environment Ministry to designate specific  registration chemicals once every three years.  Businesses will then be allowed to manufacture or import these newly designated chemicals even without registration during a three year grace period after each designation. The first list of designated chemicals is expected to contain about 500 substances.  Businesses manufacturing, importing or selling chemical substances, designated or not, are required to report the previous year’s volumes to the ministry by April of each year.