South Korea Revises K-REACH Chemical Registration Cost Sharing Practical Guidance Framework

On 14 May 2026, South Korea's Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment published a revised edition of the “Practical Guide for Sharing and Cost Sharing of Chemical Registration Application Materials” to support companies complying with requirements under the Chemical Substance Registration and Evaluation Act (K-REACH). The updated guidance reflects accumulated experience from government support programmes conducted between 2014 and 2025, registration activities for existing chemical substances, and international regulatory practices. According to the ministry, the revised guide incorporates amendments introduced in 2024 and 2025 to K-REACH and related regulations. Key updates include raising the annual manufacture and import threshold for new chemical substance registration and notification from 100 kilograms to one ton, revising procedures for joint submission consortia, and clarifying principles for cost allocation related to joint submission and shared use of registration data. The guide further explains revised dispute resolution mechanisms and introduces provisions allowing deferral of certain registration data submissions when agreement on data use cannot be reached.