Introduction of K-REACH late pre-registration and announcement No.2021-97 of the Ministry of environment of Korea

Introduction of Pre-registration of Existing Chemicals (Late Pre-registration)

According to the revised chemical evaluation method, the existing chemical substances manufactured/imported more than 1 ton per year will be registered in stages before December 31, 2030 according to the tonnage range.

For the declared existing chemical substances, according to the difference of manufacturing/importing quantity, the registration grace period up to December 31st, 2030 will be granted.

type	period of grace
1000 tons or more of existing chemical substances, CMR substances (refer to carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic and other three substances)	December 31(st), 2021
Existing chemicals of 100-1000 tons and above	December 31(st), 2024
Existing chemicals of 10-100 tons and above	December 31(st), 2027
1-10 tons and above of existing chemicals	December 31(st), 2030

Under the following circumstances, pre-registration can be performed now, and the remaining registration grace period can be obtained according to the declared manufacturing/import volume.

A. the company newly manufactures and imports more than 1 ton of existing chemical substances every year (including those manufactured and imported more than 1 ton every year 15 years ago)

B. Substances added to the existing list of chemical substances

C. the impORter has completed the registration, but the OR agent plans to register the substance (or agent registration)

D. Substances that have been registered by the OR agent but are planned to be registered by the downstream importer (importer registration, or agent changes the registration of the downstream importer)

[Korean Ministry of Environment Announcement No.2021-97] [Existing Chemical Substances] Publicize the administrative notice of some amendments (cases)

Reason for revision:

According to Article 2, paragraph 3 of the Chemical Evaluation Law, the reactants and isomers of existing chemical substances which are only composed of existing chemical substances and existing chemical substances also belong to existing chemical substances. However, due to the large number of substances, it is impossible to make a catalogue, and the following provisions are newly established.

Main contents:

Article 3 (Identification of Existing Chemical Substances) The following situations are regarded as existing chemical substances.

1. water compounds or anhydrous compounds of existing chemicals

2. A reactant consisting of two or more components, all of which are existing chemical substances (but only when the components in the reactant product are difficult to be separated technically, and are circulated and used separately in the market)

3. Isomers of existing chemicals (but excluding the cases where existing chemicals have been publicized as specific isomers)