On March 27, 2026, South Korea's National Institute of Chemical Safety (NICS) issued Notice No. 2026-5, revising the Designation of Acute Human Hazardous Substances, Chronic Human Hazardous Substances, and Ecological Hazardous Substances under the Act on Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals (K-REACH) and its Enforcement Decree. The previous revision was completed on 7 August 2025.
Name Modifications
The names of three human and ecological hazardous substances have been modified as follows:
- Unique No. 97-1-119: Arsenic and its compounds (CAS No. 7440-38-2)
- Unique No. 97-1-379: Fluoroacetic acid and its salts (CAS No. 144-49-0)
- Unique No. 97-1-417: p-Dimethylaminobenzenediazo sulfonate and its salts (CAS No. 150-70-9)
Addition of 74 Hazardous Substances
Following the entry with Unique No. 2025-1-1280, new entries from Unique No. 2026-1-1281 to 2026-1-1354 have been added, increasing the list by 74 substances – including acute human hazardous substances, chronic human hazardous substances, and ecological hazardous substances. Mixtures containing any of these substances above the specified concentration limits are also considered human and ecological hazardous substances.
Phased Implementation
This Notice takes effect from 1 July 2026. However, for sodium hypochlorite (Unique No. 2026-1-1354), the effective date is 1 January 2028.
Transitional Measures
Businesses that handled substances newly designated as human and ecological hazardous substances before the effective date of this Notice must comply with the relevant obligations under the Chemical Substances Control Act (CSCA) by the deadlines specified. For sodium hypochlorite (Unique No. 2026-1-1354), the transitional period is extended by an additional 1 year and 6 months from each deadline.
The obligations and deadlines are as follows:
- Chemical substance confirmation under Article 9 of the CSCA: January 1, 2027
- Labelling of hazardous chemical substances under Article 16 of the CSCA: January 1, 2027
- Import declaration of human and ecotoxic hazardous substances under Article 20 of the CSCA: January 1, 2027
- Notification duty of sellers of hazardous chemical substances under Article 29-2 of the CSCA: January 1, 2027
- Preparation and submission of chemical accident prevention management plan under Article 23 of the CSCA: July 1, 2028
- Business licensing and reporting for hazardous chemical substances under Article 28 of the CSCA: July 1, 2028
- Handling standards for hazardous chemical substances under Article 13 of the CSCA and Annex 1 of its Enforcement Rule: July 1, 2027
- Installation and management standards for hazardous chemical substance handling facilities under Article 24 of the CSCA and Annex 5 of its Enforcement Rule: July 1, 2030
NICS stated that this revision aims to strengthen strict management of hazardous chemical substances, protect public health and environmental safety, and urged relevant businesses to prepare for compliance in advance.
