ILMA Compoundings – December 2018 - 11

Table 2

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Grace Period

3 years

5 years

8 years

10 years

End

Dec. 31, 2022

Dec. 31, 2024

Dec. 31, 2027

Dec. 31, 2029

Product Type

Disinfectants,
algaecide, rodenticides,
insecticides, repellents

Wood preservatives,
control of other
vertebrates, control of
other non-vertebrates

Preservative for
products, preservative
product surface
treatment, fiber and
leather preservatives

Construction material
preservatives,
materials/equipment
preservatives,
embalming or
taxidermist fluids,
antifouling agents

agents under a separate group identified as "Others." These
are generally referenced in MOE commentary in public
and invitation-only meetings as biocidal actives or products
that are used to prevent contamination or deterioration in
vulnerable chemical products or articles, as well as those
included in other chemical products to prevent fouling or
other forms of product deterioration. It is this particular
feature of the new law that is most readily impactful to
lubricant manufacturers and distributors.
The new law requires that any biocidal active or product
that is used as a preservative or antifouling agent must be
registered and approved as such prior to placement of the
product containing the preservative into the Korean market.
This requirement becomes effective Jan. 1, 2019.
Unfortunately, this is the most salient and far-reaching
aspect of the new law as it relates to lubricant manufacturers
and distributors with respect to their Korean markets and
aspirations. It is also less than well-defined. For instance,
other jurisdictions provide more definition and guidance
concerning anti-fouling agents and preservative agents, and
their corresponding differences, including discussion of their
use in context. This usually serves as useful guidance.
In contrast, the legislature and MOE (concerning K-BPR)
have very loosely referenced preservatives and antifouling
agents in loose analogist terms, without specific distinction
between the two. In addition, the agency recently remarked
that it is considering potential exemption opportunities for
preservative biocidal content in industrial products, where
the biocide appears as a pre-existing ingredient of a raw
material. Of course, this statement begs for considerable
terminology definitions.

GRACE PERIODS AND PRE-NOTIFICATION
The legislature and MOE recognize that biocides are currently
available in Korea and have provided for transitional use of
these currently available biocides, all the while requiring their
registration and approval along with any biocidal actives or
products that might be newly added to the market on or after
Jan. 1, 2019. To accomplish this, the law prescribes "grace
periods" during which these currently present or "existing"
substances in products may be used, pending their corresponding registration and approval. At present, the grace periods
described in Table 2 are being offered for biocidal products.
In order to secure market eligibility under one of the grace
periods, the biocidal active and/or product that has been
placed on the market prior to Jan. 1, 2019, must be prenotified to MOE between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2019. Please
notice that this prenotification period concerning K-BPR
coincides with the prenotification period of K-REACH as
recently revised.
With the enforcement date commencing less than 60
days from November 2018 (the time of this writing), many
implementation details remain uncertain. Among them
are considerations about the notification process itself, the
details concerning the process for establishing "grace period"
eligibility and the possibility of a limited exemption for
use as "preservatives" in certain situations. These and other
items are anticipated to be addressed by upcoming MOE
announcements and publications.
Eggenschwiler is an international trade attorney and
director of Global Trade for the Redstone Group LLC.
He can be reached at 614-923-7472 or
jeggenschwiler@redstonegrp.com.

ILMA Compoundings – December 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ILMA Compoundings – December 2018