News
KIST Europe Hosts “2017 K-REACH & K-BPR Infoday” (2017.04.28)
- Date : 2017-09-04
- Views : 7205
-
Writer
International Cooperation Team
-
Att.
KIST Europe Hosts “2017 K-REACH & K-BPR Infoday”
- Helping German exporters comply with new Korean regulations
- Supporting Korea-Germany industrial cooperation
On April 27, in Cologne, Germany, the Korea Institute of Science and Technology’s European branch, KIST Europe, held its “2017 K-REACH & K-BPR Infoday” in cooperation with the Korean embassy branch office in Bonn. Participants discussed current events and how European exporters can effectively comply with the soon-to-be-enacted Korean Biocidal Product Regulation (K-BPR), as well as with the soon-to-be-amended Korean Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (K-REACH).
Of particular note, representatives from the Korean Ministry of Environment attended the event and presented on K-REACH and K-BPR regulations before holding a Q&A session for firms impacted by the new rules. Oliver Weiss, a researcher from KIST Europe, explored the impact of K-REACH and how to effectively comply with it. Dr. Jens Tørsløv from Denmark’s DHI Water and Environment offered a comparative analysis of K-REACH and EU REACH*, coming up with even more practical solutions to the difficulties involved with achieving compliance.
* EU REACH: The European Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals, which went into effect in 2007. Chemicals are regulated based on their amount and degree of toxicity.
K-REACH went into effect in 2015 in order to keep Korea abreast of the global environmental regulatory landscape initiated by EU REACH, which has resulted in strengthened regulations throughout the Korean chemical market. Furthermore, in December of 2016, the Ministry of Environment announced plans for revising K-REACH and K-BPR to improve chemical safety controls. For example, K-REACH shall be expanded to cover all chemicals manufactured in, or imported to, Korea at a rate exceeding 1 ton per year. As with EU REACH, a temporary grace period will be enacted to help businesses comply with the new rules, and, for added convenience, companies can take advantage of the pre-registration system. In the case of K-BPR, we will eventually see the introduction of the Biocidal Material Approval System and Biocidal Product Permit System. Such prospective changes necessitate a systematic response.
Choi Kuiwon, director of KIST Europe, said, "With K-REACH being revised to more closely resemble EU REACH, KIST Europe’s role will be to provide assistance to European exporters. Not only through the experience and knowhow KIST Europe has accumulated by achieving compliance with EU REACH, but also through its intimate understanding of Korean systems and processes. Such assistance would indirectly contribute to the Korean chemical industry."
As the first Korean institution to successfully register products and materials under the European Biocidal Products Regulation, KIST Europe act as a bridgehead by using chemical risk assessment technologies to assist Korean firms in penetrating European markets.