South Korea’s proposal to mandate BPR-covered products to display information about product changes, with a focus on “shrinkflation”

On March 28, 2024, the Ministry of Environment of South Korea unveiled a proposed amendment (MOE Public Notice No. 2024-213) to the Designation of Consumer Chemical Products Subject to Safety Check and Relevant Safety and Labeling Standards, one of the major BPR laws and regulations in the country. The gist of the proposed amendment is that in cases where a product’s content volume or weight is reduced, resulting in a substantial rise of unit price (as known as “shrinkflation”), it will be mandatory to display this fact on the container or packaging of the product. The draft regulation also stipulates that when a product subject to the regulation is likely to be mistaken for a food product, a review committee should be established to make the final judgment. The proposed amendment is open for public comments until April 16, 2024.

The outline of the amendment is as follows.