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Chemicals & household chemical products

Hazardous Chemical Business Permit and Business Report: Procedure and Documents — Standards for E-Cigarette Nicotine Liquid Sales and Transport

Businesses that manufacture, sell, store, transport or use hazardous chemicals must obtain a business permit or file a business report with the regional (river basin) environmental office for each workplace, according to the business categories in Article 27 of the Chemicals Control Act. Installing and operating a facility that handles hazardous chemicals at or above the lower threshold quantity, or transporting more than 1 ton at a time, requires a business permit; handling at or above the lowest threshold quantity but below the lower threshold quantity requires a business report; and selling without any handling facility requires a sales business report under Article 29-3. Nicotine and its salts are designated as acute human-hazardous substances when a mixture contains 1% or more, so businesses that import or sell e-cigarette liquid with 1% or more nicotine also go through this procedure. The processing period for a business permit is 15 days and the fee is 30,000 won.

Written by Hwang Yunsang, Administrative Agent · Published 2026-10-10 · Updated 2026-10-10

Procedure

  1. 1. Check the substance and its concentration

    The Designation Notice on Acute Human-Hazardous, Chronic Human-Hazardous and Ecologically Hazardous Substances issued by the National Institute of Chemical Safety treats nicotine and its salts (No. 97-1-11) and (R,S)-nicotine as acute human-hazardous substances when a mixture contains 1% or more. For e-cigarette liquid, first check the nicotine content of each product, and if you bring products in from abroad, also check whether an import report for human-hazardous substances under Article 20(2) of the same Act is required.

  2. 2. Decide between business permit, business report and sales business report

    Compare the maximum quantity held at the workplace with the substance-specific threshold quantities in the Regulation on Threshold Quantities of Hazardous Chemicals. At or above the lower threshold quantity, or transporting more than 1 ton at a time, requires a business permit; at or above the lowest threshold quantity but below the lower threshold quantity requires a business report. Selling without storage facilities falls under the Article 29-3 sales business report, but without storage facilities you may not display or store hazardous chemicals, so first decide whether stock will be kept at the shop.

  3. 3. Prepare facilities, technical personnel and a hazardous chemical manager

    Annex 6 of the Enforcement Rule sets standards such as changing rooms, personal protective equipment, firefighting equipment, and leak detection and alarm devices or CCTV, and adds a parking area for transport vehicles and a washing facility with a collection tank for the transport business. At least 1 technical staff member is the rule, but this standard does not apply to the transport business or to sales and use businesses with fewer than 10 employees. A hazardous chemical manager must be appointed before starting business: the transport business needs 1 chief manager plus 1 inspector per 20 transport vehicles (may be omitted for 20 vehicles or fewer), and those who filed a business report or sales business report need 1 chief manager.

  4. 4. Chemical accident prevention plan and handling facility installation inspection

    When installing a handling facility at or above the lower threshold quantity, you must submit a chemical accident prevention management plan to the President of the National Institute of Chemical Safety at least 60 days before the installation inspection begins and receive a notice of suitability. Vehicles transporting hazardous chemicals are excluded from the plan requirement, except for loading onto or unloading from the vehicle. A handling facility may not be used until it passes the installation inspection by an inspection body such as Korea Environment Corporation, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency or Korea Gas Safety Corporation.

  5. 5. Submit the permit application or report

    Submit the permit application or report in Form No. 43 with the attachments to the regional (river basin) environmental office. For the transport business, also submit a copy of the freight vehicle transport business permit or the construction machinery rental business registration certificate. The processing period is 15 days and the fee is 30,000 won for a permit and 13,000 won for a business report; the sales business report without handling facilities uses Form No. 47-3, with a processing period of 10 days and no fee.

Required documents

  • Hazardous chemical business permit application or report (Enforcement Rule of the Chemicals Control Act, Form No. 43)
  • Report on hazardous chemical sales business without handling facilities (same Enforcement Rule, Form No. 47-3, when selling only without storage facilities)
  • Data on the expected annual handling quantity of hazardous chemicals (same Enforcement Rule, Form No. 44)
  • Chemical accident prevention management plan with a notice of suitability (if subject to submission)
  • Inspection result showing a suitable rating in the handling facility installation inspection (issued by the inspection body)
  • Specification of hazardous chemical handling facilities (area, capacity and number of each facility, location map and layout plan)
  • Specification of hazardous chemical equipment and technical personnel
  • Transport business: copy of the freight vehicle transport business permit or the construction machinery rental business registration certificate
  • Report on appointment of a hazardous chemical manager (same Enforcement Rule, Form No. 49)
  • Letter of authorization (when submitted by an agent)

Fees

Generally in the range of tens of thousands to several hundred thousand won in the industry · We will advise after consultation, depending on whether it is a sales business report or a business permit, the number of substances handled, the scale of facilities and vehicles, and the volume of manager appointment documents. Government fees and inspection body fees are separate.

See fees and official charges for this service →

Legal basis and review date

  • Chemicals Control Act, Article 2
  • Chemicals Control Act, Article 15
  • Chemicals Control Act, Article 20
  • Chemicals Control Act, Article 23
  • Chemicals Control Act, Article 24
  • Chemicals Control Act, Article 27
  • Chemicals Control Act, Article 28
  • Chemicals Control Act, Article 29
  • Chemicals Control Act, Article 29-3
  • Chemicals Control Act, Article 32
  • Chemicals Control Act, Article 61
  • Enforcement Rule of the Chemicals Control Act, Article 19
  • Enforcement Rule of the Chemicals Control Act, Article 22
  • Enforcement Rule of the Chemicals Control Act, Article 27
  • Enforcement Rule of the Chemicals Control Act, Article 31-3
  • Enforcement Rule of the Chemicals Control Act, Annex 6
  • Enforcement Rule of the Chemicals Control Act, Annex 6-2
  • Enforcement Rule of the Chemicals Control Act, Form No. 43
  • Enforcement Rule of the Chemicals Control Act, Form No. 47-3
  • Designation Notice on Acute Human-Hazardous, Chronic Human-Hazardous and Ecologically Hazardous Substances (National Institute of Chemical Safety), Annex
  • Regulation on Threshold Quantities of Hazardous Chemicals (National Institute of Chemical Safety)
  • Tobacco Business Act, Article 2
  • Tobacco Business Act, Article 16

Checked against the statutes on

Statutes and public notices change, so each case needs to be checked individually. Statute titles are given in English for reference. The Korean statutes are the authoritative text.

Check these first

  • Selling hazardous chemicals without filing a business report or a sales business report without handling facilities is subject to imprisonment of up to 1 year or a fine of up to 30,000,000 won, so obtain the report confirmation certificate before starting sales.
  • A handling facility that has not passed the installation inspection may not be used, and if the facility capacity or location or the substances handled change after the permit, a change permit must be obtained.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a hazardous chemical business permit to sell e-cigarette liquid?
Yes, if the liquid contains 1% or more nicotine. If you only sell without storage facilities, you file a sales business report; if you keep stock in storage facilities, you compare the maximum quantity held with the threshold quantities to decide whether a business permit or business report applies. From April 24, 2026, the definition of tobacco in the Tobacco Business Act includes products made from nicotine, so a business selling directly to consumers must also be designated as a tobacco retailer by the mayor, county head or district head.
Do I need to report liquid with less than 1% nicotine?
Judging by nicotine alone, it is not covered. The Designation Notice treats nicotine and its salts as an acute human-hazardous substance when a mixture contains 1% or more. However, whether other ingredients exceed the concentration criteria in the Designation Notice is checked separately for each product.
When is a hazardous chemical transport business permit required?
A transport business permit is required to transport more than 1 ton of hazardous chemicals at a time. Because the permit application requires a copy of the freight vehicle transport business permit or the construction machinery rental business registration certificate, obtain the transport business permit first, and have transport vehicles pass the installation inspection. The technical personnel standard does not apply to the transport business, and 1 chief hazardous chemical manager is appointed.
How long does a hazardous chemical business permit take and what is the fee?
The processing period for a permit application is 15 days and the fee is 30,000 won (27,000 won for electronic payment). A business report costs 13,000 won (11,700 won for electronic payment), and a sales business report without handling facilities has a 10-day processing period and no fee. The chemical accident prevention management plan must be submitted at least 60 days before the installation inspection begins, so the overall schedule should include this period.
Does an administrative agent handle hazardous chemical business permit applications?
Yes. Hwang Yunsang Administrative Office reviews the substances, concentrations and whether a permit or report applies, prepares the permit application or report and the data on expected annual handling quantity, organizes the specifications of handling facilities, equipment and technical personnel, prepares the hazardous chemical manager appointment report, and submits on your behalf to the regional (river basin) environmental office and responds to requests for supplements. For e-cigarette liquid sales, we also prepare and submit the tobacco retailer designation application on your behalf.

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Hwang Yunsang Administrative Office in Songdo, Incheon prepares and submits administrative documents and explains the procedure. If your situation is similar, send us a message.

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This guide is general information based on public sources. Requirements, documents and deadlines differ by case and by the competent agency, so please confirm them before you proceed.