Korea establishes procedures for designation of substances subject to authorization 
On July 29, 2022, South Korea Ministry of Environment published a revised version of the implementation rules of the Act on Registration, Evaluation, etc. of Chemicals (K-REACH). This amendment establishes a procedure for the official designation of substances subject to authorization by the Ministry, including provisions for the selection of candidate substances and the prior publication of information on the internet. In addition, when applying for registration of a chemical substance whose annual production or import volume is 100 kg or more but less than 1 ton, if the water solubility of the chemical substance is less than 1 mg/L or the chemical substance is used exclusively for specific purposes such as intermediates, the submission of documents on hazards is exempted according to the amendment.
Establishment of a system to designate substances subject to authorization
The term substances subject to authorization is defined as “chemical substances that are deemed to pose a risk and are notified by the Ministry of Environment to be manufactured, imported, or used with the authorization of the Minister of Environment.” Those who manufacture, import, or use substances subject to authorization are required to prepare and submit documents on their uses, hazardous properties, and alternative analysis in order to obtain authorization. However, from January 1, 2015, when the K-REACH first went into effect, to the present, no substances have been officially designated or promulgated as substances subject to authorization.
On December 30, 2021, the Ministry of Environment announced that it will conduct a pilot project to establish a flow for selecting and disclosing candidate substances subject to authorization, soliciting opinions on them, and finally designating them. And for the pilot project, following 10 substances were selected as candidate substances subject to authorization, and opinions are being solicited from June 8 to September 15, 2022.
