KCS and KATS Detect 470,000 Products Violating Safety Standards

On the 18th, the Korea Customs Service announced that it conducted a focused safety inspection at the customs clearance stage from the 3rd to the 30th of last month, together with the National Institute of Technology and Standards under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (hereinafter referred to as NITS), and detected approximately 470,000 products that failed to meet safety standards, blocking their entry into the country.

Example materials of product types detected during safety-focused inspections by the Korea Customs Service and the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards. Provided by the Korea Customs Service

The focused inspection targeted 18 items with concentrated winter consumption, such as children's and infant products for Christmas gifts, heating and warming products like electric mats and hand warmers, and winter sports equipment such as skis and snowboards.

Among the items detected during this process, the largest quantities were toys including snow sleds, snow tubes, and board games with 305,000 units, gas lighters with 62,000 units, and other children's products with 42,000 units.

Types of safety standard violations included 130,000 units without KC safety certification, 160,000 units with false safety labeling, 180,000 units failing to meet safety labeling standards, and 400 units not conforming to safety standards.

The safety inspection at the customs clearance stage is jointly conducted by the Korea Customs Service and related government agencies to preemptively block the domestic entry and distribution of imported goods that do not meet safety standards.

The Korea Customs Service and NITS have been conducting safety inspections on electrical and household goods as well as children's products since 2016.

In addition, the Korea Customs Service collaborates with seven related government agencies including the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Employment and Labor, Korea Forest Service, and Nuclear Safety and Security Commission to operate the safety inspection system.

A Korea Customs Service official stated, “By strengthening safety inspections focused on items with concentrated demand by season or those with a high risk of violating safety standards in cooperation with related agencies, we plan to proactively block the domestic entry of illegal and substandard products.”