A survey found that small and medium-sized enterprises are struggling in the chemical substance registration process due to expense burdens and a lack of expertise.
The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises announced on Apr. 5 the results of a perception survey of 500 small and medium-sized enterprises conducted to assess the burden level related to the registration of existing chemical substances under the Act on Registration and Evaluation of Chemical Substances.
Under the current law, corporations that intend to manufacture or import 1 ton or more of existing chemical substances annually must file a prior notification and register within the grace period depending on the volume. Among these, the 1 ton to under 10 tons range, which must be registered by 2030, is cited as a range with low usage but high registration expense relative to sales, imposing a significant burden on small and medium-sized enterprises.
The survey found that 71% of responding corporations handle chemical substances in that range, using an average of 17.59 substances per corporation. In particular, business sites with 10 to fewer than 30 employees handled the most types, averaging 24.55.
The level of materials preparation was also low. For physicochemical property data, 21.3% responded they had secured almost none, and 52.5% said they had secured some. For human toxicity data, the share of establishments with fewer than 30 employees that responded they had secured most data fell short of 20%. Environmental hazard data likewise stood at 4.3% for chemical product manufacturing, indicating an overall lack of preparation was found.
The main burden factors in the registration process for small-quantity existing chemical substances were the lack of internal personnel and expertise, scoring 68.38, the highest. The expense of purchasing letters of access needed to use jointly submitted test data scored 67.25, followed by the complexity of administrative procedures at 65.77. In the joint registration process, both information shortages and consultation delays were reported at 46.4% each, and understanding of letter-of-access pricing averaged just 33.18.
If small-quantity existing chemical substances are not registered, production disruptions and discontinuation risks stood at 62.2%, and additional expense occurrences at 60.8% was found. Business sites with fewer than 10 employees showed higher concerns than other corporate groups about business suspension and withdrawal due to deteriorating profitability.
As measures to ease the burden, expense vouchers and subsidies were rated the highest at 67.55. Calls for extending grace periods and simplifying procedures followed. Overall, the greatest burden factor was economic expense, and policy demand also focused on financial support.
Yang Chan-hoe, head of the Innovation Growth Headquarters at KBIZ, said, "In the 1 to 10 tons range, annual usage is relatively low, but the number of items is large and the uses are diverse, so many small and medium-sized enterprises lacking specialized personnel were found to feel burdened by registration."
Yang added, "From the end of 2027, when registration in the 10 to 100 tons range is completed, registration in the 1 to 10 tons range is expected to begin in earnest," and "To raise the rate of compliance, it will be necessary to review the difficulties small and medium-sized enterprises feel in the course of implementing the system, improve the system rationally, and prepare appropriate support measures."