It is anticipated that these proposed revisions will be approved on August 5 and go into effect on August 7, 2025.

The draft adjustment to the K-REACH Enforcement Decree was sent to the World Trade Organization by the Ministry of Environment (MoE) of South Korea on February 13, 2025. The deadline for comments is April 14, 2025.

Background

K-REACH was amended by Order No. 20232 on February 6, 2024, to adopt new designation criteria for dangerous chemicals (which will go into effect on August 8, 2025) and a new tonnage band for new chemical registration (which went into effect on January 1, 2025). The enforcement decree, which serves as the supporting regulation under K-REACH, will also be modified to align with the K-REACH modifications and provide more clarification on the requirements for implementation. The Daft Revision to K-REACH Enforcement Decree was published on January 24, 2025, to gather domestic public feedback (see MoE Notice No.2025-48). The MoE recently notified WTO of this draft revision for worldwide feedback. 

Proposed updates to the K-REACH Enforcement Decree

• According to their dangers, hazardous chemicals are now divided into three categories under Article 2(6) of K-REACH: ecological toxic substances, acute toxic substances to human health, and chronic toxic substances to human health. As a result, the K-REACH Enforcement Decree’s Article 3 and Attachment 1 will be modified to include specific designation requirements for every category of hazardous chemical.Attachment 1’s change is available on Pages 8–12 of the Draft change. 
• The amended Article 7 of the K-REACH Enforcement Decree establishes the legal foundation for the creation of a new expert sub-body of the Chemicals Evaluation Committee, known as the Hazard Assessment Committee, with the exception of committees of risk assessment, information provision review, and social-economic analysis.
• A wider range of information, such as usage classification, registration type, etc., can be revealed even when CBI protection is requested in accordance with Article 45 of K-REACH, according to an amendment to Article 30(2) of the K-REACH Enforcement Decree.
• In order to consolidate the interconnected efforts of several agencies into a single agency, Article 31 of the K-REACH Enforcement Rules has been modified. The Korea Environment Corporation (KECO) has been given the responsibility of receiving a report on the appointment or termination of an only representative (OR). The head of a regional environmental office also handles tasks pertaining to the sequence in which reports or data must be submitted, as well as access to facilities and company locations.

The draft amendment is anticipated to be approved on August 5 and go into effect on August 7, 2025, per Notification G/TBT/N/KOR/1263.

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