(1) Reasons for Proposal
The Act on Registration, Evaluation, etc. of Chemicals was amended (partially amended by Act No.15512, March 20, 2018. and Act No. 15584, April 17, 2018 and to be enforced January 1, 2019) in such a way that existing chemicals to be manufactured or imported for more than 1 ton per year shall be all registered in stages by 2030 depending on their hazards and distribution volume for the purpose of promptly securing and controlling information on the harzards of chemicals being distributed domestically; and that penalty surcharges shall be imposed on unregistered chemicals.
Accordingly, the Amendment aims to determine legally delegated matters such as establishing a detailed registration grace period for existing chemicals and setting the standards for imposing penalty surcharges, etc., thereby resolving some inadequacies arising in the process of operating the current system.
(2) Major Provisions
A. Newly insert the definition of transported isolated intermediate (Article 2 -1, amended)
Unlike non-isolated and on-site isolated intermediate that are not exposed to consumers being currently exempted from registration and their data for submission have become simplified under the Act on Registration, Evaluation, etc., of Chemicals, there is no separate provision concerning transported isolated intermediate whose registration data have been simplified in the EU, etc.
Accordingly, the definition of transported isolated intermediate(a chemical produced in the intermediate stage of the domestic chemical manufacturing process, transferred to other production sites, its whole quantity is used, and then ceases to exist) is to be newly inserted, thereby omitting certain documents for submission when applying for registration.
B. Establish the registration grace period for existing chemicals (Article 10, amended)
A person who intends to manufacture and import existing chemicals of more than 10 ton and less than 100 ton per year shall register by December 31, 2017; and a person who intends to manufacture and import existing chemicals of more than 1 ton and less than 10 ton per year shall register by December 31, 20130.
C. Standards for total domestic distribution volume of a chemical capable of being designated as a chemical to be registered (Article 10-3, newly inserted)
An existing chemical, whose quantity is less than 1 ton per year so that it is not subject to registration by the standards of individual firms but its total manufacturing/import volume exceeds 10 tons per year, and a new chemical, whose quantity is less than 0.1 ton per year so that it is not subject to registration by the standards of individual firms but its total manufacturing/import volume exceeds 10 tons per year may be designated and publicly notified as being subject to registration through the deliberation of the Committee on Evaluation of Chemicals in accordance with Article 10, paragraph 5 of the Act.
D. Amend the provision, "Exemption from Registration of Chemicals, etc."(Article 11, amended)
Where the whole volume of a chemcial is to be exported overseas, its registration shall be exempted regardless of the volume; and where its hazardous chemical, substance under strict control, or new chemical remains more than 0.1% by weight ratio based on unresponsive monomer, a high molecular compound whose average molecular weight is less than 1 shall be registered.
E. Amend the provision, "Omission of the Data to be Submitted When Applying for Registration of Chemicals" (Article 13, amended)
Where the result of a manufacturer or importer of existing chemicals having reported or made a modified report pursuant to Article 10, paragraph 3 of the Act shows no classification or indication of health and environmental hazards, certain data to be submitted when applying for registration shall be exempted to ensure rational operation of the registration system by streamlining the registration documents for the chemicals with a low hazard level, provided, however, that a person who reported and made a modified report on the relevant substance for consumer use shall not be exempted from submission of the registration documents.
F. Newly insert a provision for standards for imposing penalty surcharge, etc. (Article 15-2, newly inserted)
An amount equivalent to not more than 5% of the total sales of a company shall be imposed as penalty surcharge in accordance with the law. In such cases, "total sales" means annual average sales in the 3 business years right before the business year in which a business proprietor committed a violation.
G. Establish the standards for content when providing information about chemicals (Article 20-2, newly inserted)
The information on registered and reported chemicals shall be provided, regardless of thier content, and even if unregistered hazardous chemicals fail to meet the designated standards for mixutres, the information on them shall be provided where they contain content in excess of the classification standards for mistures.
