[The Hwankyung Ilbo] The Ministry of Environment (Minister Han Jung-ae) and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (Director Kim Kang-lip) decided to actively promote cosmetics subcontractors that consist of consumers being able to purchase only cosmetics in reusable containers on July 1.

In order to revitalize cosmetics sub-division stores, the Ministry of Environment will promote ▷Distribution of guidelines for sub-division of cosmetics ▷maintain distribution of standard containers to medium and small stores ▷reduction of responsibility for recycling the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety will take responsible of ▷allow consumers to divide products themselves ▷maintain operation of sub-division stores without customized cosmetics manufacturers ▷provide hygiene management guidelines for sub-division stores.

The support plan was designed to encourage the use of cosmetics sub-stores to expand eco-friendly consumption by reducing the use of plastic packaging materials and practicing carbon reduction.

It is also meaningful in promoting a culture of cosmetic sub-division while providing safe cosmetics to consumers.

The Ministry of Environment will prepare guidelines for producers to refer to when manufacturing standard containers for selling cosmetics sub-divisions within this year and distribute them to related industries. Standard containers manufactured in accordance with the guidelines will be distributed on a trial basis to small and medium-sized cosmetics stores. 

The guidelines will introduce how to produce containers with materials and structures that are easy to recycle, while solving consumer hygiene and safety problems that can arise from repeated cleaning and reuse of sub-containers.

The Ministry of Environment will include experts and industry workers in related fields such as cosmetics, packaging, health, and hygiene in the process of establishing guidelines to include standards for ▷eco-friendly materials ▷ easy to clean pesticides ▷ content of harmful substances by contents.

It also plans to provide a certain number of standard containers free of charge from the first half of next year for small businesses that have difficulty procuring standard containers on their own. 

Reduction or exemption of contribution to recycling responsibility of producers:

It will also reduce producer responsibility of recycling contributions for standard container shipments, and discounted contributions will be applied to the quantity delivered to cosmetics sub-stores with standard containers manufactured in accordance with the guidelines starting next year.

It promotes the use of standard containers for the sale of cosmetics with safety and resource circulation by providing economic benefits such as reduction of contributions.

From July 1, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety will allow consumers to carry four types of cosmetics, including shampoo, rinse, body cleanser, and liquid soap directly in containers under the guidance of customized cosmetics dispensers.

In the meantime, the dispensing manager have to divide themselves according to the Cosmetics Act, but in the future, consumers will be able to operate valves or automatic subdivision devices installed in the store and purchase them at a desired, cheaper price.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, along with packaging-free shops and cosmetics responsible vendors, will test-run employees trained at cosmetics substores to replace customized cosmetics dispensers.

The pilot operation will be conducted for two years using the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's regulatory sandbox system, and it will be applied simultaneously to stores where customized cosmetics manufacturers are deployed and stores where safety accidents are handled, store hygiene management, and consumer satisfaction are evaluated. 

Prepare guidelines for store hygiene guidelines:

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety plans to prepare and distribute hygiene management guidelines in the second half of this year along with industries and consumer groups to properly conduct hygiene inspections and safety manage at small sub-stores.

The main contents of hygiene management guidelines are ▷cleaning and management methods of cosmetics sub-division devices and reusable containers ▷management of product labels ▷details of cosmetics quality and safety management in sub-division stores ▷ precautions for use, etc. 

In June this year, as the "Customized Cosmetics Safety Management" proposed by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety was adopted as a new agenda item by the International Conference on Harmony of Cosmetics Regulations (ICCR), the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety will push for a status survey.

Korea has been active as a full member of the International Council on Harmony of Cosmetics Regulations since last year, and will play a leading role in establishing international standards for the operation of cosmetics sub-stores.

Starting from the second half of this year, it will investigate the current status of cosmetics sub-stores in each country and form a working-level consultative body to discuss preparing international standards.

The plan to support the revitalization of cosmetics sub-stores is the first example of the ministry's joint active administrative decision-making system, which was deliberated and resolved at the "joint meeting of the active administrative committee" to preemptively solve the problem before revising related regulations.

"Cosmetics sub-stores can effectively contribute to resource circulation and carbon neutrality," said Hong Dong-gon, director of the Ministry of Environment's resource circulation bureau. "We will actively support cosmetics sub-stores to reduce packaging waste and promote green consumption."