On October 4, 2023, in accordance with the Act on the Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals, the National Institute of Environmental Research in Korea released Notice No. 2023-460 on revision of Classification and Labeling Regulations for Chemical Substances.

On August 10, 2023, the South Korean Ministry of Environment (MOE) published Notice No.2023-183 revising the volume of toxic, restricted, prohibited, and permitted substances in accordance with the Regulations on the Implementation of the Chemical Substance Management Act. The revision this time aims to enhance the management of chemicals and safeguard public health and the environment.

In order to further improve certain shortcomings in the existing system, on August 25, 2023, the South Korean Ministry of Environment published Notice No. 2023-502 partially revising the Implementation Regulations of the Act on the Registration and Evaluation of Chemical Substances. This revision will come into effect on January 4, 2024.

On August 1, 2023, South Korea’s National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) has amended its toxic substance list in Notice No. 2023-41, in accordance with the Act on Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals (K-REACH) and the Korean Chemical Control Act.

South Korean Ministry of Environment (MoE) has published two K-REACH registration support programs to help enterprises register under K-REACH. Both programs shall meet the following requirements: Substances are manufactured/imported in annual volumes of 100 to 1,000 tonnes; Registration consortium to complete registration by November 2024; Registration consortium has selected its only representative (OR); and registration consortium includes two or more SMEs that are ‘active’ members

On Jun 20, 2023, based on related provisions of the Act on the Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals, the National Institute of Environmental Research in South Korea released Administrative Announcement on partially revised the Notice on the Designation of Toxic Substances and the Classification and Labeling Regulations for Chemical Substances.

On June 1, 2023, the Ministry of Environment of Korea (MoE) released Notice 2023-122 on the amendment of existing chemicals. In accordance with the provision of Paragraph 3, Article 2 of the Act on the Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals, a total of 209 chemical substances is hereby published.

On April 25, 2023, South Korea’s National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) published a public consultation updating the toxic substances list (Notice No. 2023-26). This Notice shall enter into force three months after its publication. In accordance with the Act on the Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals (known as K-REACH), competent authorities shall conduct hazard review and hazard assessment of substances that have completed registrations. Classifications shall be made based on the review results. If a substance is classified as toxic substance, NIER will include it in toxic substances list and release notice.

On November 23, 2022, South Korean Ministry of Environment (MoE) released 11 candidate substances subject to authorization for public consultation in its Announcement No. 2022-671. Comments can be made from December 15, 2022 to February 13, 2023 (lasting 60 days). Substances subject to authorization under K-REACH are required to obtain the authorization from MoE prior to production, import or use in South Korea, even if the substances have already completed registrations under K-REACH.

On October 20, 2022, South Korea made amendments to the guidelines on registration procedures for existing chemical substances. The guidelines provide specific pre-registration and registration procedures for substances that are identified as existing chemical substances under Article 3 of the Notice on Existing Chemical Substances (Notice No.2021-160) yet cannot be searched as existing chemical substances on the National Chemicals Information System (NCIS). The amendments mainly focused on the pre-registration and registration procedures of multi-component reactants.