1417 Products Disclosed So Far... 83 More to Be Added in the First Half of the Year
Ministry of Environment to Also Disclose Toxicity of Each Ingredient
[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The Ministry of Environment and the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute announced on the 27th that through collaboration among the government, civil society, and companies, the full ingredient information of chemical substances contained in over 1,500 household chemical products from 22 companies will be disclosed on the Household Environment Safety Information System by the first half of this year.
The household chemical products subject to this full ingredient disclosure include laundry detergents, air fresheners, deodorants, and disinfectants. Since 2018, the full ingredients of 1,417 products have been disclosed, and the remaining 83 products will be disclosed within the first half of this year.
The disclosed information includes ▲basic information such as product name, company name, contact information, and address ▲ingredient information such as ingredient name, purpose, and chemical safety information ▲and safety usage information such as registration number, precautions for use, and child-resistant packaging requirements. Consumers can also check product information in stores by scanning the barcode with the smartphone application 'Choroknuri.'
Previously, the Ministry of Environment and civic groups engaged in continuous communication, including working-level meetings, to persuade some companies that argued that disclosing raw material ingredient information of household chemical products was difficult due to trade secrets, leading to voluntary agreements with manufacturers, importers, and distributors.
Following the voluntary agreements and working-level consultations, companies agreed to submit all ingredients contained in products to the government regardless of content (mixing ratio), and the government agreed to disclose all ingredient information except for content amounts to consumers, based on the full ingredient disclosure guidelines prepared.
Agreement companies must disclose all chemical substances except unintentional ingredients, and even unintentional ingredients must be disclosed if they are carcinogens or endocrine-disrupting substances (above 0.01%). Furthermore, even if an ingredient is a company trade secret, it must be disclosed if it poses high human health risks to uphold consumers' right to know.
The government, civil society, and agreement companies verify the reliability of the full ingredient disclosure information through a 'Verification Committee' composed of experts from the public, private, and academic sectors, and disclose the information after review if deemed appropriate.
Hamina, Director of Environmental Health Policy at the Ministry of Environment, stated, "This full ingredient disclosure has further strengthened consumers' right to know," and added, "From the second half of this year, we plan to expand information disclosure to include easy-to-understand management grades for each ingredient along with the full ingredient list so that consumers can make rational choices."
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