Chemicals Management
Policy in Korea

Ministry of Environment
Republic of Korea
Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

1C O N T E N T S
1. Overview
2. Chemicals Management System
3. Emerging Issues
4. Future Policy Direction

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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1
1Overview Background History of Chemicals Management
 Legal Framework
 Organization

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

3Background Major player in the Korean economy• Accounts for 10% of the domestic manufacturing industry• Ranked 7th in the global chemical industry
459.1(23.6%)

Manufacturing Scale (US$1billion)
201.3(10.4%)
154.4(7.9%)

USAJapanGemany117.9(6.1%)

China99(5.1%)

France74.4(3.8%)

Italy

55.4
54.8(2.8%) (2.8%)

45.3
41.7
(2.3%) (2.1%)

Korea

BrazilUK

India

Chemical Production in Major Countries (Korea NSO, 2003)
Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Background cont’d More than 40,000 chemicals in the market• 400 new chemicals are produced or imported annually 287.4 million tons in trade (2002)• HPV (>1,000 ton/yr) chemicals (287)Domes tic
ChemicalCircultion

287(x106 ton)
174

1998

2002

year

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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History of Chemicals Management
History
Toxic chemicals management(’63~’90)(Act on Poisons and Toxins)
Beginning of full-scale chemicals
management policy(’90~’96)(Toxic Chemicals Control Act)

Contents
Hazard/noxious substances to prevent
poisoning
Systematic chemicals management
including hazardous assessment

Setting up a basis for advanced
chemicals management(’96~’05)

OECD accession in 1996, introductionof TRI, GLP and risk assessment

Policy shift to enhance public healthbased on risk assessment(’06~)(Revision of TCCA)

Chemical Self-confirmation, banned/restricted chemicals

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA6

Legal Framework
 Toxic Chemicals Control Act (rev. 2004)• Basic law regarding chemicals management in Korea“To prevent risk caused by chemicals to human health or theenvironment” and “to control hazardous chemicals so that everyone canlive in a healthy environment”• Five Chapters• Framework Plan for Hazardous Chemicals Control, TRI, etc.
• New Chemical Notification, Risk Assessment, etc.
• Safe Control of Toxic Chemicals, Banned or Restricted Chemicals,
Responses to Chemical Accidents, etc.
• Supplementary Provisions• Penalty Provisions

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Legal Framework cont’d Relevant laws
Ministries

Major contents• Industrial Safety and Health Act

Laws

Ministry of Labor• MSDS, occupational healthmanagement• High Pressure Gas Safety Control
Act• Quality Management and Industrial
Products Safety Control Act

Ministry ofCommerce, Industryand Energy• Toxic gas storage and transportation• Hazardous chemicals standard forindustrial products• Explosives Safety Control Act

National Emergency
Management Agency• Explosives storage and transportation• Ship Safety Act

Ministry of Maritime
Affairs & Fisheries• Explosives classification and labelling,
maritime transportation• Agricultural Chemicals Control Act• Fertilizers Control Act

Ministry ofAgriculture &Forestry• Agricultural chemicals management• Fertilizer management• Pharmaceutical Affairs Act

Ministry of Health &Welfare• Pharmaceuticals management

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Institutional Framework
 Ministry of Environment• Environment Health Policy Division, Chemicals Safety Division,
Hazardous Chemicals Division(Total 3 Divisions) (’04)• Chemicals Management Division in each River Basin/Regional
Environmental Office National Institute of Environmental Research• Environmental Health Research Department, Chemicals Assessment
Department (’07)
 Related Ministries• Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy,
National Emergency Management Agency

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

Chemicals Management System
 Overview of Management Framework Assessment of New & Existing Chemicals
 Regulation of Hazardous Chemicals
 Risk Assessment
 Information Sharing Participation of Stakeholders
 Partnership with Enterprises
 Capacity Building

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Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA10

Overview of Management Framework

Basic Data
CollectionRiskAssessment

New Chemicals

Existing Chemicals

400 kinds/year

40,000 kinds

Information gathering

Information gathering

Hazard Assessment, expectedamount of use, chemicals use

Safety test, Env’t Monitoring,
Survey of distribution/release

Impact Assessment(health/env’t)

Exposure Assessment

Risk Assessment
Risk Management

Risk Management/
Communication
Restriction/BanManagement
Standard

Accident
Prevention
Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Categorization of Chemicals
 According to their hazard and risk

Toxic Chemicals(558)

Banned/Restricted

Accident
Chemicals (58/5) ObservationalPrecautionChemicals (21)Chemicals (56)

General Chemicals(40,000)
No specific regulations
Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Definitions
 Toxic chemicals• Harmful to human health or the environment

 Observational chemicals• Being likely to be harmful to human health or the environment

 Restricted or banned chemicals• Severely harmful to human health or the environment Accident precaution chemicals• High acute toxicity, explosive hazard, etc. and thus presents
a high risk at an accident

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Chemicals Self-confirmation
 Manufacturer or importer of chemicals shall submit chemicals
self-confirmation sheet to MOE prior to manufacturing orimport• Confirmation of New Chemicals, Toxic Chemicals, Observational
Chemicals, Restricted Chemicals

 Submit only once for the same product• Exporters in overseas need to offer chemicals information totheir importers in Korea

 Result of Chemicals Self-confirmation(2006)• 439 Manufacturer(6,828 chemicals), 9,336 importer(210,269 chemicals)
Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA14

Assessment of New & Existing Chemicals
 New Chemicals• Chemicals produced/introduced in Korea for the first time
(approx. 400 kinds/yr)
Î Completion of 4,679 chemicals evaluation from 1991 to 2006
Î Designate 125 chemicals as toxic chemicals and 12 chemicals
observational chemicals• Assess six items for toxicity* 13 items recommended by the OECD
- Acute oral toxicity, genetic toxicity, biodegradability, fish acutetoxicity, daphnia toxicity, algae toxicity

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Assessment of New & Existing Chemicals
 Existing Chemicals• Safety test: approx. 15 kinds/yr according to priorities ofchemical distribution
Î Completion of 983 chemicals evaluation by 2006
Î Designate 440 chemicals as toxic chemicals and 9 chemicals
observational chemicals•

Risk assessment for hazardous chemicals- Annual risk assessment by stage- Chemicals management plans based on survey of toxicity,
distribution, emissions of chemicals

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Regulation of Toxic Chemicals
 Required to register• People who want to produce, market, store, transport, or use
toxic chemicals• 558 toxic chemicals< Number of Toxic Chemicals Business Entities >(2006)Total

Manufacturing

Sales

StorageTransportation

Use

5,783

449

3,332

104214

1,684

 Regulation on the import of toxic chemicals• People who intend to import a toxic chemical for the firsttime shall give notice of its type, applications, etc. to MOE• Reagents for tests, research, and inspection are exempted
Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

17Regulation of Toxic Chemicals cont’d Regular/irregular facility inspection• Applications for regular inspection (every year) andsafety inspection (If necessary)• MOE guidance for managing toxic chemicals duringstorage, transportation and distribution

 Post management for toxic chemicals handlers• Reporting annual results of manufacturing, sales,
storage, transportation by Feb. next year
• Keeping documents and their preservation for 3 years(chemicals Self-confirmation, import license, etc.)

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Regulation of Restricted Chemicals
 Required to obtain business permission• People who want to produce, market, store, transport, or use
restricted chemicals• 5 restricted chemicals (Methyl bromide, Malachite Green, Carbon
tetrachloride, etc.)* 58 banned chemicals (PCBs, Aldrin, Endrine, etc.)

 MOE Guidance for managing restricted chemicals duringstorage, transportation and distribution
 Needs prior authorization for the import of restrictedchemicals• Reagents for tests, research, and inspection are exempted
Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Accident Precaution Chemicals
 Designation of 56 accident precaution chemicals• phosgene, benzene, ammonia, chlorine, etc.

 Emergency Preparedness Plan for certain sized facilities
 Report of accident• Report to the local government, local environmental office, police
station, fire station, or local labor authority• MOE distributes the report to other organizations

 Survey on post accident impact and establishmentof restoration guideline
Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Chemical Accidents Response Information
System (CARIS)

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Management of Persistent
Organic Pollutants (POPs) Enactment of POPs Control Act(Jan. ’07)
 Objective• To protect human health and environment from POPs
 Contents• Set up the emission standards for POPs
• Preparing treatment method and recycling standardsof POPs waste• To implement Stockholm Convention which was ratified
in Jan. ’07
Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Management of POPs cont’d Dioxin
 Risk assessment project of dioxin• Assessing the current pollution level of dioxin in Korea
using the existing dioxin measurement data※ Dioxin Risk Assessment Committee (’05.7~)

 Establishment of ‘dioxin emission allowable standards’(’08.1)• Considering with the current status of each industry with thefull review by stakeholders
Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Management of POPs cont’d PCBs Checking the PCBs-containing stockpiles such as transformer• Examine oil-filled transformers and set up a database Development of ‘Guideline for handling PCBs-containing waste’• For handling PCBs-containing waste during waste collectionand transportation
 Collection and storing methods of PCBs-containing waste• Attachment of identification tag and RFID(’06.4)
 Considering the use of chemical reaction methods rather thanusing high temperature incineration

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Risk Assessment 107 high-risk priority chemical substances were selectedbased on their potential hazard and distribution amount(‘02~’03)
 An initial risk assessment about 17 chemicals among thepriority chemicals (’03~’06)• Previous screening test for selecting chemicals and concerned area
• Based on chemicals toxicity, monitoring, exposure assessment, etc.

 A detailed risk assessment of 7 chemicals (’07~)• Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, Arsenic, Chrome, Nickel, Benzene• Kyunggi Banweol, Sihwa, Gumi, Incheon industrial complex, etc.

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

25Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) To report the amount of chemicals released to theenvironment in the process of production or use,
as well as the amount transferred to other places• 388 chemicals from companies with > 30 employees• Annual (‘00~)* Chemicals Distribution Amount Survey• Facilities which manufacture or use > 100 Kg• Every 4 years (’98~)

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Amount of Chemicals Released
Amount of chemicals handled (x103 ton)
113,188

Amount of chemicals released (ton)
6,027

93,797

112,678

96,392

11,32751,021

36,58734,272

47,29938,04130,143

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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TRI Information System Government is opening TRI results to the public• Statistics by regions, Industries, etc.(~’99)• Statistics of each enterprise will be available from 2008

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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National Chemicals Information System Ongoing project of NCIS construction(’05~ ’09)
• Providing domestic chemicals database, information on
toxic substances and regulations

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Participation of Stakeholders
 Chemical Policy Councils• Hazardous Chemicals Management Committee
Î 26 peoples (MOE and related ministry :10, company, NGO,institute, university : 16)
Î Deliberation on risk management, toxicity confirmation,
substitute for hazardous chemicals, public relation about
pollution prevention, international cooperation, etc.

• PCBs Committee• Dioxin Risk Assessment Committee• Hazardous Materials Life-Cycle Risk Assessment Committee• Household Utensils Government-NGOs Committee, etc.
(children goods, adhesives, cellular phone…)
Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Partnership with Enterprises
 30/50 Program• Enterprises’ voluntary agreement to reduce chemicals release(’04-)• 30% decrease by 2007 and 50% by 2009
• Participation of 167 Enterprises, MOE, local government, NGOsAmount of chemicals handled (x103 ton)Amount of chemicals released (ton)50,00045, 491

45,00040,00045 ,15 4

40,0 64

37 ,225

35,00030,00025,00020,000

1 6,2 43

15,000

12 ,651

11,9 92

10 ,62 97, 55010,0005,000

002001

2002

2003

2004

2005
Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Partnership with Enterprises cont’d Voluntary Agreement to exterminate PCBs
• Technology development and provision of funding forexterminating PCBs by 2015
• Participation of 7 Electric power companies, MOE,NGOs

 Voluntary Agreement to reduce dioxin• 30% decrease of dioxin release by 2008 and 50%
by 2010• Participation of 19 companies, MOE, NGOs

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Capacity Building Periodic mandatory education for field managers dealing
with toxic chemicals and restricted/banned chemicals(every 3 years)• TCCA regulation, toxic chemicals property, general chemistry Education for officeholders in charge of chemicalsmanagement• MOE and local government : TCCA regulation, GHS, risk
assessment, chemicals accident precaution• Emergency response agencies (fire station, police) : chemicals
accident precaution, CARIS, emergency preparedness plan

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Capacity Building cont’d Distribution of Policy Information Pamphlet• TCCA, TRI, accident precaution

TCCA

TRI

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Emerging Issues
 Health Protection Policy for Children
 REACH
 GHS
 SAICM

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Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Health Protection Policy for Children
 Securing environmental safety of children activity places(playground, school zone)• Indoor air quality management

 Protecting children health from hazardous chemicals
release from children goods• Introduction of recall system

 Establishment of risk assessment for children
 Development of risk communication• Teach program, symbol markMinistry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Building a Response System to REACH MOE has been a leading role in coping with REACH
in its early stage of REACH
 The Goal
• Providing systematic support service to related industry

and improving domestic chemical management system

 Established the “REACH Task Force” in Sep. 2006
under MOE Operation of “Helpdesk” for Industry• Homepage: http://reach.me.go.kr

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

37GHS
 Operation of Inter-Ministerial Committee since 2004
• MOE, Ministry of Labor, National Emergency ManagementAgency, etc.
• UN GHS Purple Book published (Korean Version) Preparation of national GHS regulation• MOE will prepare regulation on toxic chemicals (2,000 kinds)
by 2007• Development of GHS guideline and education program* Ministry of Labor revised the Industrial Safety and Health Act relating toGHS and the detailed notification was announced Dec 2006, which ask
mandatory application from July 2008
Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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SAICM Establishment of “SAICM Promotion Council”(’06.10)• Participation of government, industry, expert, etc.
• Under development of national implementation
plan

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

Future Policy Direction
 The Goal and Strategies New Chemicals Evaluation System
 Risk Management of Chemicals Based on Public Health Integrated Risk Assessment & Management

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Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Framework Plan(2006-2010) on
Hazardous Chemicals Management<GOAL>
Protecting human health and environment from the hazard of chemicals<STRATEGIES>
 Expanding management coverage : Hazard Æ Risk
 Utilization of diverse policy tools
 Enhancing cooperation mechanism among all stakeholders<MAJOR TASKS>¾ Strengthening the basis for safe management of hazardous chemicals¾ Risk management of chemicals from a standpoint of human health protection¾ Establishing a focused control system on specific hazardous chemicals¾ Enhancing Risk Communication¾ Introducing a new chemical registration & evaluation system
Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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New Chemicals Evaluation System Introduction of a “new” system by 2010 to address
global flow
• Expansion of the assessment items to meet OECD
recommendation (6 Æ 13 items)• Enhancing the role of industry in chemicals dataproduction• Strengthening information sharing on chemicals
through supply chain

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA42

Risk management of Chemicals Basedon Public health Establishment of receptor-oriented risk assessment system Life cycle management of living goods containing hazardous
substances– Chemical exposure monitoring on a daily basis

 Protection of vulnerable people (e.g. children) fromhazardous substances– Periodic monitoring of exposure to hazardous substances
contained in children’s goods and establishment of management
systemMinistry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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Integrated Risk Assessment & Management(IRAM)
 Promotion of environmental health policy focused on therisk of receptor such as human health and environment• Integrated Environmental Standards (incorporation of air,water and soil) Implementation plan for risk assessment and management(’02~’05, first stage) IRAM TF and Forum(’06)
 Implementation plan for risk assessment and management(’07~’10, second stage)

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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THANK YOU감사합니다

Ministry of Environment
Republic of KOREA

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