|
|
|
|
|
Newsletter | February 2014, Issue 1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ENVIRONMENT |
|
|
|
K-REACH and Chemicals Control Act:
Advance Notice of Draft Subordinate Statutes |
|
|
|
On February 18, 2014, the Ministry of Environment of Korea (“MoE”) announced an advance notice for the draft subordinate statutes of the K-REACH and Chemicals Control Act (“CCA”). Provided below are the key provisions of the legislation that is to take effect on January 1, 2015.
|
|
|
|
K-REACH
|
|
|
|
| Topic |
Key Provisions of Subordinate Statutes |
Reporting
Requirement |
| Under K-REACH, a person who manufactures, imports or distributes a new chemical or existing chemical in excess of 1 ton per year shall report the intended use and volume of the chemical to the MoE every year. |
The draft subordinate statutes provide the following exceptions:
- A distributor may skip the report of sales volume and intended use.
- A person who sells product to end users (e.g., hypermarket, supermarket, etc.) need not comply with the reporting requirement.
|
|
| Registration Requirement |
| Under K-REACH, a person who manufactures or imports a new chemical or existing chemical subject to registration in excess of 1 ton per year shall register the chemical before manufacturing or importing the chemical. | | The draft subordinate statutes provide that the MoE will publish a list of existing chemicals subject to registration in advance in the official gazette or on the MoE Internet homepage. | |
Low Volume
Simplified
Registration |
| K-REACH requires that new chemicals must be registered, while the draft subordinate statutes stipulate that new chemicals in volumes of less than one ton will need fewer documents for registration. | |
| R&D Exemption |
| While K-REACH does not specifically provide any exemption for registration regarding chemicals that are manufactured or imported for R&D purposes, the draft subordinate statutes provide registration exemptions for such chemicals provided that confirmation by the MoE is obtained. |
| R&D-exempt chemicals may be transferred to other locations including other workplaces and research centers. | |
Polymer
Exemption |
| Polymers may be exempt from the registration requirement pursuant to confirmation by the MoE. However, certain low-risk polymers, such as cationic polymers, must be registered. | |
Chemical
Information
Sharing |
A person who transfers a registered chemical or a mixture of chemicals that contains a registered chemical must provide the following information to the transferee: chemical name, risk and toxicity information, safety related information, etc.
- If the composition or content volume constitutes a trade secret as defined under the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act, the above requirement shall not apply. (However, if the chemical is classified as toxic, then the information sharing requirement will apply.)
| |
|
|
|
|
CCA
|
|
|
|
| Topic |
Key Provisions of Subordinate Statutes |
Preparation
and
Submission of
an Impact
Assessment |
| The CCA provides that a person who intends to set up and operate toxic chemicals handling facilities shall prepare, in advance, an impact assessment report that evaluates the impact of a potential chemical accident on the surrounding environment and population; however, under the draft subordinate statutes, facilities that process only a small amount of toxic chemicals may provide fewer documents (details will follow in the Ministerial notice), and that a grace period shall apply to facilities to which the current Toxic Chemicals Control Law apply.
|
|
Reporting of
Outsourcing
Toxic
Chemicals-
related Work |
| The CCA provides that businesses retained to handle toxic chemicals on an outsource basis shall report the outsource arrangement; the draft subordinate statutes further specify that such report must be made within 10 days from the start of the arrangement. | |
Preparation
and
Publication of
Contingency
Plan |
Under CCA, a person who handles accident prone chemicals in excess of a certain amount shall prepare and submit a contingency plan every five years.
- The supplementary provisions of the draft enforcement regulations provide a grace period to persons who have submitted a self-prevention plan pursuant to the current Toxic Chemicals Control Law and a method on how to publicize the contingency plan to the local general public – notice may be given to the local public via delivery to the apartment superintendent’s office, the dong or myeon town offices or the head of a tong or ban neighborhood association. | |
|
|
|
|
The MoE plans to promulgate the draft subordinate statutes in the second half of 2014. Before promulgation, the MoE will collect the opinions of interested parties on the draft statutes through March 31, 2014 (i.e., the end date of the legislative announcement period) followed by the regulatory screening process and review by the Office of Legislation. In addition, the MoE plans to operate a K-REACH helpdesk and to conduct various training sessions on the new legislation from February 2014. Publication of the list of existing chemicals subject to registration and the applicable grace periods is tentatively scheduled for October 2014.
|
|
|
|
Back to Main Page |
|
|
|
|
|
If you have any questions regarding this article, please contact below: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For more information, please visit our website: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|