South Korea is reviewing whether to extend its label-free bottled water requirement to imported, foreign-produced brands. The environment ministry has discussed the idea with importers of overseas bottled water in a routine consultation, but officials say it has not yet been decided whether the mandate would apply to offshore products.
Since the start of the year, South Korea has required bottled water produced and sold domestically to be label-free, using QR codes on bottle caps and packaging instead of traditional labels. The policy is expected to cut annual plastic use by 2,270 metric tons, according to the ministry of climate, energy and environment.
Domestic bottled water producers have raised concerns about equity, arguing that products in the same market should be subject to the same standards. Imported bottled water currently remains excluded from the label-free rule and is sold with conventional labels. Both reports describe the review as ongoing, with the final scope of any expansion still uncertain.
