KATS Improves 19 Technical Regulations Hindering Businesses

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] The National Institute of Technology and Standards (NITS) under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy improved 19 cases of technical regulations last year.

NITS held the "2020 Technical Regulation Corporate Difficulties Discovery and Improvement Briefing" on the 27th to inform the industry of the results of discovering and improving technical regulation difficulties faced by companies last year.

Since its establishment and operation in 2013, the Technical Regulation Reform Task Force has annually discovered and improved technical regulation difficulties that act as burdens to companies, supporting cost reduction and production time shortening. The 19 corporate difficulties discovered last year include ▲unreasonable technical standards (10 cases), ▲burdens of certification costs and procedures (5 cases), ▲confusion in regulatory information (4 cases), operated by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and Korea Coast Guard. Through improving technical regulations, they plan to induce enhanced corporate vitality by reducing testing and certification costs, shortening inspection periods, and revitalizing the market.

NITS also consulted with related ministries on 13 corporate difficulty suggestions discovered in 2019, including establishing KS standards for DC air purifiers. Among these, 9 cases such as expanding the application scope of air purifiers, realistic ventilation fan airflow test conditions, and changes in dye standards for disposable diapers have been improved through related standard revisions, and 4 cases including environmental label certification for children's furniture are currently being improved.

Going forward, NITS plans to move beyond fragmented regulatory improvement activities and establish a "Public-Private Joint Bulk Technical Regulation Difficulty Discovery System" that focuses on investigating difficulties with high corporate perception and strong demand for improvement together with private sectors such as the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Korea Federation of SMEs, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of technical regulation improvement activities.

Lee Seungwoo, Director of NITS, stated, "We will continuously listen to the technical regulation difficulties faced by our companies under the difficult conditions of COVID-19," and added, "We will actively discover and resolve unreasonable technical regulation difficulties to enhance the vitality of our companies so that 2021 can be a year when Korea leaps forward as a leading economy beyond the pandemic crisis."