South Korea announces draft amendment of K-BPR Enforcement Rules for public comments 
On June 21, 2021, the Ministry of Environment (MOE) of South Korea publicized a draft amendment of the Enforcement Rules for the Consumer Chemical Products and Biocides Safety Act (K-BPR). The MOE held a public consultation for the draft from June 21 through to July 26, 2021. After the public consultation period is ended, the draft amendment will be submitted to the Plenary Session of the National Assembly, following examination at the responsible standing committee of the Assembly.
The major provisions of the draft amendment are as follows.
1. Additional documentation is required when applying for inspection on consumer chemical products subject to safety check.
Currently, the K-BPR has designated a total of 35 types of chemicals mainly used at households, offices, and multipurpose facilities (e.g., detergents and bleaches) as “consumer chemical products subject to safety check” and stipulates the safety and labeling standards for them. In terms of these safety standards, such regulated products are required to undergo inspection at a testing laboratory.
Under the draft amendment, when making an application for inspection of any consumer chemical product subject to safety check that contains biocidal substances, the application must accompany a document proving that the biocidal substances have been approved or deferred for approval.
2. An additional requirement is introduced for biocidal product packaging: “The packaging materials must prevent leakage of the content during the product transportation”
Under the current Enforcement Rules, the container and packaging standards for biocidal products require 1) to prevent leakage of content from the container and 2) not to generate any harmful compounds with the content. The draft amendment proposes to add a new requirement, namely: to prevent leakage of contents when the product is transported.
3. Revision of prohibited wording/statement for packaging and advertisement of consumer chemical products subject to safety check and biocidal products.
Under current Enforcement Rules, representation of certain words/statements, such as “non-toxic,” “harmless”, and “environmentally friendly” is prohibited in packaging and advertisement of consumer chemical products subject to safety check and biocidal products. The draft amendment proposes to such products must include statement product’s declaration/approval number.
The draft amendment can be viewed at:
https://www.epeople.go.kr/cmmn/idea/redirect.do?ideaRegNo=1AE-2106-0001830
