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Chemicals Convention, 1990 (No. 170) - Republic of Korea (RATIFICATION: 2003)

The Committee notes the response provided by the Government in its latest report, including information on the relevant laws and standards, and the responsibilities of the Occupational Safety and Health Policy Deliberation Committee, which together make up the Government’s national policy on safety in the use of chemicals at work, as required by Article 4 of the Convention. The Committee also notes the information provided by the Government on standards for the classification of chemicals, giving further effect to Article 6, and the information provided on the records of the monitoring of the work environment, giving further effect to Article 12(d). The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information on measures undertaken with regards to the Convention, including information on the work done by the above committee.

Article 19. Responsibility of exporting States. The Committee notes the Government’s response indicating that pursuant to section 37 of the OSH Act, no person should manufacture, import, transfer, offer or use the 64 types of substances which are recognized as especially harmful to workers’ health, and that there is no exception to this ban on exporting these products. The Committee asks the Government to provide further information on measures taken or envisaged to ensure that the exportation of any hazardous chemicals for which all or some uses are prohibited for reasons of safety and health at work, outside of the 64 types of substances recognized under section 37 of the OSH Act, is communicated to any importing country.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that statistics on the number of workers covered by measures giving effect to the Convention do not exist. The Committee asks the Government to give a general appreciation of the manner in which the Convention is applied in the country and attach extracts from inspection reports, information on the number and nature of the contraventions reported, and the number, nature and cause of accidents reported.