South Korea drafts Notice on Information Disclosure Regarding Consumer Chemical Products Subject to Safety Check 
At the end of May 2021, the Ministry of Environment (MOE) of South Korea announced that it has finalized a draft of the “Notice on the Information Disclosure Regarding Consumer Chemical Products Subject to Safety Check” (hereinafter the “draft notice”) to stipulate detailed rules for information disclosure regarding consumer chemical products subject to safety check, which is mandated by Article 10-2 of the Consumer Chemical Products and Biocides Safety Act (hereinafter “K-BPR”). The draft notice mandates MOE to publicize chemical substances used in the concerned products when the Ministry discloses information about consumer products subject to safety check (details of the information to be disclosed is still unknown).
Accordingly, under the draft notice, when MOE discloses information on consumer chemical products subject to safety check, information on the manufacturer or importer, the name of the product, and information on chemical substances contained in the product will be also disclosed. MOE plans to conduct a public consultation on the draft notice by June 9 of 2021, and then promulgate the notice by July 1, 2021.
K-BPR designates about 35 types of consumer chemical products including cleaners, coating agents and adhesives as “consumer chemical products subject to safety check”. Business entities that manufacture or import consumer chemical products subject to safety check must comply with the following rules:
- Obligation of laboratory testing
When business entities manufacture or import consumer chemical products subject to safety check, the products must be tested at testing laboratories against the stipulated safety standards. Test results shall be valid for three years. After any three-year period ends, the consumer chemical product subject to safety check must be tested again.
- Obligation of notification of test results
When a test stipulated above is completed, the test result must be notified to MOE.
- Obligation of labeling standards
On product surfaces or product packaging materials, information specified in Article 10 of the K-BPR (i.e., name of the product, information on the manufacturer or importer, weight or volume, precautions, and other items) must be indicated.
In addition to the above rules for businesses, the draft notice also mandates MOE to publicize information on the notified consumer chemical products subject to safety check to the public.
The draft notice can be viewed at:
https://www.epeople.go.kr/cmmn/idea/redirect.do?ideaRegNo=1AE-2105-0001321
