South Korea is accelerating the control process of substances of concern and expanding the scope of domestic product safety responsibilities. The Ministry of Environment of South Korea is expected to implement accelerated management measures for the authorization, restriction and ban of substances of concern. In the latest K-REACH implementation measures, regarding the control of substances of concern, it is expected to open up relevant information on the use of this substance within the jurisdiction of other international regulations, and use this as a reference for inclusion in restrictions and bans, which is expected to reduce the risk assessment carried out by the Korean Ministry of Environment at least 3 years of evaluation time and accelerated control period. This accelerated measure to restrict and ban substances of concern will apply to and refer to the following substances: – substances authorized or restricted by EU regulations, or listed on the list of substances of high concern; or – the U.S. Significant New Use Rule (SNUR); or – listed under Japanese regulations Category 1 Specified Substances include carcinogenic, persistent and bioaccumulative substances. Substances that meet the above conditions must be determined to be of high concern and have sufficient risk assessment data. The Ministry of Environment of South Korea stated that the new assessment measures for this substance before it is designated as restricted and banned will greatly speed up the control speed. In order to assist the industry in responding, the Ministry of Environment of South Korea will also proceed in a phased manner. Another adjustment is to strengthen safeguards for problematic substances entering the domestic market in South Korea. According to current regulations, if a problem occurs with a product, the consignee of the product must bear product responsibility. In the future, when a problem occurs with a product and the OEM announces a product recall, the consignor of the product must also be responsible for recycling it.
