South Korea Releases its Revised GHS Standards for 2025

On August 6, 2025, the South Korean Ministry of Employment and Labor (MoEL) announced the revision of the Standards for Classification, Labeling, and Material Safety Data Sheets of Chemical Substances (MoEL Notice No. 2025-50). The revision took effect from August 7, 2025.

This revision updates the requirements for what must be included in Safety Data Sheets (SDS) to reflect the 2024 amendments to K-REACH (Notice No. 20232, effective August 7, 2025). On the same day, the National Institute of Chemical Safety (NICS), under the Ministry of Environment, issued Notice No. 2025-19. This notice replaced the Notice “Designation of Toxic Substances” with three separate categories: substances that are acutely hazardous to human health, chronically hazardous to human health, and hazardous to the environment. The list of hazardous substances was also updated. As a result, the GHS standards were revised to match these new K-REACH requirements.

The main revisions are as follows:

Modifications of Specific Statements

• Modification of the sample description for Self-heating substances and mixtures, Category 1

Old: Substances or mixtures which give a positive result in a test using a 25 mm cube sample at 140°C.

New: Substances or mixtures which give a positive result in a test using a 25 mm cube sample (sample cube) at 140°C.

• Oxidizing Solids, Category 1, using test O.3 criteria

Old: Substances or mixtures which, in the 4:1 or 1:1 sample-to-cellulose ratio test, exhibit a mean burning time less than that of a 3:1 mixture (by mass) of calcium peroxide and cellulose.

New: Substances or mixtures which, in the 4:1 or 1:1 sample-to-cellulose ratio test, exhibit a mean burning rate greater than that of a 3:1 mixture (by mass) of calcium peroxide and cellulose.

• Oxidizing Solids, Category 2, using test O.3 criteria

Old: Substances or mixtures which, in the 4:1 or 1:1 sample-to-cellulose ratio test, exhibit a mean burning time less than that of a 1:1 mixture (by mass) of calcium peroxide and cellulose and which do not meet the criteria for Category 1.

New: Substances or mixtures which, in the 4:1 or 1:1 sample-to-cellulose ratio test, exhibit a mean burning rate greater than that of a 1:1 mixture (by mass) of calcium peroxide and cellulose and which do not meet the criteria for Category 1.

• Oxidizing Solids, Category 3, using test O.3 criteria

Old: Substances or mixtures which, in the 4:1 or 1:1 sample-to-cellulose ratio test, exhibit a mean burning time less than that of a 1:2 mixture (by mass) of calcium peroxide and cellulose and which do not meet the criteria for Category 1 and Category 2.

New: Substances or mixtures which, in the 4:1 or 1:1 sample-to-cellulose ratio test, exhibit a mean burning rate greater than that of a 1:2 mixture (by mass) of calcium peroxide and cellulose and which do not meet the criteria for Category 1 and Category 2.

• Serious eye damage/eye irritation, Category 1

Old: ① Mixtures containing a total of 3% or more of ingredients classified as Serious eye damage (Category 1) or Skin corrosion (Category 1) (Note 1); ② Mixtures where the sum of the following is 3% or more: The total content (%) of ingredients classified as Skin corrosion (Category 1), and the total content (%) of ingredients classified as Serious eye damage (Category 1)

Note 1: If an ingredient is classified as both Skin corrosion (Category 1) and Serious eye damage (Category 1), its concentration is counted only once.

New: ① Mixtures containing a total of 3% or more of ingredients classified as Serious eye damage (Category 1) or Skin corrosion (Category 1) (Note 1); ② Mixtures where the sum of the following is 3% or more (Note 1): The total content (%) of ingredients classified as Skin corrosion (Category 1), and the total content (%) of ingredients classified as Serious eye damage (Category 1)

Note 1: If an ingredient is classified as both Skin corrosion (Category 1) and Serious eye damage (Category 1), its concentration is counted only once.

Modification of Transport Pictograms

Flammable Liquids UN GHS Transport Pictogram (RTDG):

Addition of Regulatory Information Requirements

Revised the content of Section 15 (Regulatory information) in the SDS example provided in Appendix 4.

A new mandatory item has been added to Section 15 (Regulatory information): Relevant regulations of the Act on Registration and Evaluation, etc. of Chemicals. This means that from July 1, 2026, SDS must update Section 15 content according to the new requirements and the revised K-REACH Act. Until June 30, 2026, it is permissible to continue preparing SDS according to the old example format, placing K-REACH regulatory information under other regulatory headings within Section 15.

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Further Information

MOEL