(1) Reasons for Proposal
The Act on Registration, Evaluation, etc., of Chemicals was amended (partially amended by Act No. 15512, March 20, 2018 and partially amended by 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 reported to the Minister of Environment prior to manufacture and import, shall then be subject to a registration grace period and registered in stages by 2030 for the purpose of promptly securing and controlling information on the hazards of chemicals being distributed domestically.
Accordingly, the Amendment aims to determine legally delegated matters such as detailed methods of reporting existing chemicals or any modificationns thereof and to require the provision of information on carcinogenic substances to extend the range of information provided on the hazards of chemicals, etc., thereby resolving some inadequacies arising in the process of operating the current system.
(2) Major Provisions
A Newly insert the methods of reporting existing chemicals or any modifications thereof (Article 3, amended)
A person who intends to manufacture/import chemicals shall submit a report to the Korea Environment Corporation in advance through the Chemicals Information Processing System. Where the range of tonnage of manufactured/imported volume changes, a report on such modification shall be submitted in advance, and other changes (in classification, indication, use, etc.) shall be reported within 1 month of the date the relevant changes have been made.
B. Amend the methods of applying for registration of chemicals (Article 5, Attached Table 1 amended)
With respect to existing chemicals whose certain data for submission are exempted due to their low hazard levels (where there is no classification/indication of health and environmental hazards, a person who has reported for consumer use is excluded), test data about hazards for 1 to 10 tons shall be submitted regardless of its volume, and the same for transported isolated intermediates corresponding to a maximum 1 to 10 tons (if manufactured in excess of 1,000 tons annually) shall also be submitted.
C. Newly insert the provisions for applying for reporting and notifying new chemicals (Article 6-2 newly inserted)
A person who intends to manufacture/import new chemicals of less than 100kg shall submit and report to the head of the National Institute of Environmental Research documents such as a certificate of report on his/her appointment and an application form of data protection, etc.; and the head of the Institute shall notify him/her accordingly within 7 days (14 days maximum) from the date of receipt of an application for report.
D. Amend the methods and procedures, etc., for joint submission of registration application form (Article 17 amended)
A person who intends to manufacture/import for consumer use as a result of reporting existing chemicals or any modifications thereof shall form a separate consultative body; and where a chemical with a single name or identification information is still difficult to be deemed as an identical substance since it is a high molecular compound with distinctly different characteristics, a separate consultative body may also be formed.
E. Amend the provisions for providing information about chemicals (Article 35 amended, Article 35-2 newly inserted)
1) Newly establish a system in which any information on chemical components, content, etc., that reveals health and environmental hazards according to the details of classification/indication of chemicals may be withdrawn with the approval of the Minister of Environment to extend the range of information provided on the hazards of chemicals.
In such a case, an "Application for Approval of Withdrawal of Information" shall be submitted to the Minister of Environment, who shall notify him/her of approval or disapproval following deliberation by the Committee for Deliberation of Information Provision (Article 7 of the Ordinance regarding new establishment of a specialized committee) (Article 35-2).
2) Where substances with a high risk of health hazards such as carcinogenic, mutagenic, reprotoxic (CMR), and hazardous chemicals contain hazards exceeding the standards for classification of mixtures in accordance with the details of hazard classification/indication, the relevant information shall be provided.
F. Delete the provisions related to the control of products with worrisome hazard levels (Articles 43, 44, 47, 48 etc. deleted)
Matters concerning the control of household chemicals including products with worrisome hazards has now been governed by the Act on Safety Control of Household Chemicals and Biocidal Products. Accordingly, the provisions for the related hazard assessment methods, submission of the data on substances containing products with worrisome hazards not publicly notified, measures/orders for their recall, etc., shall be deleted.
