Korea Federation of SMEs Publishes Booklet on 100 Major Killer Regulations
10 Items Submitted to Killer Regulation TF 2nd Meeting
"There is a heavy burden because we have to obtain separate certifications depending on the purpose, even when using the same syringe made of the same material."
"I hope the foreign worker quota system is abolished and the scale of foreign worker introduction is set according to the demand of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)."
These are items that the SME sector identified as killer regulations hindering growth. The Korea Federation of SMEs announced on the 28th that it has discovered 100 killer regulations affecting SMEs across seven major areas including new industries and business locations, and published a booklet containing these details. The Federation had previously collected 251 field difficulties from all employees, SME cooperatives, and related organizations during May and June.
A medical device manufacturer pointed out that product certification must be obtained separately for each material, even for the same product. This company, located in Chungnam, stated, "Injection needles made from plastic and stainless steel do not deteriorate regardless of the type of injection solution used. Nevertheless, we have to spend about 20 million KRW each time to obtain certifications for insulin use, vaccine use, etc., depending on the purpose. Also, once the certification expires, we must get it again." They added, "There have been no accidents or side effects due to lack of certification, but the certification regulations have caused significant costs, making management difficult. Improvement is absolutely necessary."
A manufacturer of ship components advocated for the abolition of foreign worker employment limits at workplaces. A company based in Gyeongnam said, "Because foreign worker quotas are set, we can only hire a number of foreign workers that does not meet the demand of SMEs. Only companies above a certain size can hire more foreign workers, so adjustments are needed to allow even small companies to hire foreign workers. The quota for foreign workers is granted based on the ratio of domestic workers, but if there are no domestic workers available, I don't understand why foreign workers are also restricted."
These issues were included in the task booklet, and 10 tasks related to three fields (location, environment, labor) out of 100 were submitted at the second meeting of the Killer Regulation Task Force (TF) held by the Office for Government Policy Coordination on the 14th of last month. Some were selected among the top 15 killer regulations, and subsequently, government ministries related to these three fields (Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy; Ministry of Environment; Ministry of Justice; Ministry of Employment and Labor) prepared improvement plans by the 24th.
A representative example is the relaxation of the registration standards for new chemical substances specified in the Act on Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals. Previously, any new chemical substance produced at 0.1 tons or more annually had to be registered with the Ministry of Environment regardless of type, but this threshold has been raised to 1 ton. The number of required toxicity test data items for chemical registration has also been reduced, simplifying the registration process.
Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, said, "Thanks to the government's efforts, the long-standing wish of SMEs to relax the registration standards for new chemical substances under the Chemical Substances Control Act has been fulfilled after eight years. Restrictions on industries entering industrial complexes have been eased, and the scale of foreign workforce introduction has been greatly expanded, giving companies more breathing room. We expect the National Assembly to actively communicate with the SME sector during the September regular session to legislate related matters and complete the legislation within this year."
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