Measures to support customs administration for small business owners to develop overseas sales channels will be promoted.
On the 19th, the Korea Customs Service announced that starting next month, it will implement the "Customs Administration Support Plan for Small Business Export Commercialization," which supports small business owners throughout the entire export process, from export preparation to local customs clearance after export.
The support targets small business enterprises with fewer than 5 regular employees (fewer than 10 in manufacturing, etc.) and whose average sales over three years by industry fall below the standard. According to the Small and Medium Business Administration's basic statistics on small and medium enterprises, about 7.335 million companies nationwide (95.0% of all companies) qualify for support.
The support plan focuses on transforming small business owners, who have been concentrated on domestic sales, into export companies so that they can have sustainable growth momentum.
With the establishment of the support plan, the Korea Customs Service will utilize networks with related organizations such as small business support agencies and financial institutions to discover small business owners wishing to expand overseas. In cooperation with financial institutions, it plans to provide benefits such as simplifying the trade finance application process for eligible small business owners.
For small business owners who find it difficult to receive expert assistance, seven export-import business support centers nationwide will serve as dedicated support desks for companies under the Korea Customs Service, enabling close support for small business owners.
Measures will also be devised to reduce the burden on small business owners during the certification of origin for utilizing Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and the export declaration process.
This includes simplifying the supporting documents required to be submitted to customs during the issuance of certificates of origin for promising export items such as K-Beauty and K-Seafood, and providing customized overseas customs clearance information such as optimal FTA tariff rates tailored to the characteristics of each small business owner.
Through this series of processes, support measures will also be promoted to help small business owners who actually export products quickly resolve customs clearance difficulties that may arise locally in the export destination countries.
Customs clearance system experts in the export destination countries will be appointed as "Overseas Public Customs Brokers" to provide free consultation services on customs procedures, import requirements, customs systems, and origin determination in the export destination countries. The Korea Customs Service explained that it will also hold origin verification support projects and origin verification response briefings to help alleviate difficulties in the origin verification process.
Ko Gwang-hyo, Commissioner of the Korea Customs Service, said, "Although exports have recently maintained an upward trend, domestic demand recovery remains weak, exacerbating the management difficulties of small business owners. The Korea Customs Service will do its best to help small business owners, who are directly connected to people's livelihoods, gain growth momentum through developing overseas sales channels."
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