South Korea - GHS Status

Focal points:

Ministry of Labor (MOL)

Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) Ministry of Environment (MOE)

National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs

Main relevant legislation:

Industrial Safety and Health Act (ISHA); Toxic Chemicals Control Act (TCCA);

Dangerous Goods Safety Management Act (DGSMA);

Standard KSM 1069:2006 (Labelling of Chemicals based on GHS)

GHS implementation status

Transport of dangerous goods

Implemented

For international transport of dangerous goods, see “Implementation through international legal instruments, recommendations, codes and guidelines”

For national transport: Dangerous Goods Safety Management Act (DGSMA), which addresses classification and labelling of dangerous goods, and is based on the 15th revised edition of the UN Model Regulations.

Other sectors:

Workplace

Implemented

Korea has implemented GHS Rev.4.

• Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), supported by “Standards for classification and labelling of chemicals and Safety Data Sheets” (Ministry of Employment and Labor (MoEL) Notice 2016-19)
• Chemicals Control Act (CCA) and Chemical Substance Registration and Evaluation Act (as amended on 26 May 2020) (Act No.17236)

The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) (Act No.16722), was amended in 2019 and will come into force on 16 January 2021. It sets out new obligations for chemical manufacturers and importers, including the disclosure of composition information and submission of safety data sheets (SDS) to the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MoEL).

On 12 November 2020, the MoEL published the revised Standards for Classification and labelling of chemical substances and SDS (Notice No.2020-130). The revised standards are aligned with the revised OSHA and will enter into force on 16 January 2021

The National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) published several updates to the official list of GHS classifications (NIER notification No.2019-7). These updates included addition of new entries as well as updates on the classification of substances already in the list. The official classifications are mandatory.