"Overseas Direct Purchase" Illegal and Hazardous Items Beware!... Strengthening Inter-Ministerial Collaboration

Five government ministries will strengthen collaboration to block the inflow of illegal and hazardous goods into the country through overseas direct purchases and other channels.

On the 26th, the Korea Customs Service announced that it signed a "Mutual Cooperation Agreement for Inter-Ministerial Risk Information Sharing and Utilization" with the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the National Institute of Technology and Standards, and the Trade Security Management Institute at the Seoul Regional Customs Office.

Koh Kwang-hyo, Commissioner of the Korea Customs Service (third from the left), is taking a commemorative photo on the 26th at the Seoul Main Customs Office after signing a "Mutual Cooperation Agreement for Interagency Risk Information Sharing and Utilization" with the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, National Institute of Technology and Standards, and Trade Security Management Institute. Photo by Korea Customs Service

The agreement was signed with the purpose of jointly responding across ministries to block the import and export of illegal and hazardous goods from the border stage, thereby protecting social safety and public health.

Recently, cases of illegal import and export (false declarations and circumvention imports) of illegal and hazardous goods through overseas direct purchases have been increasing. However, due to silos between ministries, information was not shared in a timely manner, limiting the ability to respond effectively.

For example, in April, cadmium and lead levels exceeding domestic standards by up to 700 times were detected in jewelry imported from China via overseas direct purchase, and in May, a company illegally exporting military strategic materials such as firearm parts worth approximately 26.6 billion KRW was caught.

Accordingly, based on the agreement, the five ministries plan to strengthen mutual cooperation in ▲blocking the import and export of illegal and hazardous goods ▲monitoring environmentally harmful products ▲verifying the safety of food and pharmaceuticals ▲checking compliance with safety standards for safety-managed products ▲and controlling the export of strategic materials.

To this end, the Korea Customs Service launched the "National Safety Collaboration Information Team" this month, composed of dispatched officials at the assistant director level from each ministry and experts from the Ministry of Environment and the Trade Security Management Institute. Team members will work jointly at the Customs Border Risk Management Center of the Korea Customs Service, participating in designating illegal and hazardous goods as targets for customs inspection based on inter-ministerial risk information.

They will also serve as catalysts to facilitate smooth collaboration among ministries in blocking the import and export of illegal and hazardous goods by feeding risk information back to their original ministries.

Previously, information on declarations, approvals, detections, and risk trends related to environmental products, food and pharmaceuticals, and strategic materials, which were individually managed by each ministry at customs clearance and distribution stages, will now be shared among the five ministries to prevent blind spots in the import of illegal and hazardous goods.

The Korea Customs Service expects that removing information silos between ministries through this agreement will enable proactive government-wide risk response and maximize synergy effects through collaboration.

Officials from the five ministries stated, "We will strive to make this agreement a representative example of collaboration that maintains cooperative relationships between ministries, eliminates blind spots in the import and export of illegal and hazardous goods, and removes barriers that block information sharing."