2024-05-20 10:33:05
The federal government just about withdrew its coverage of banning abroad direct purchases of merchandise with out the Nationwide Certification Mark (KC) after three days because of shopper opposition, however the controversy just isn’t subsiding as no correct follow-up measures are taken.
In keeping with the federal government on the twentieth, Lee Jeong-won, Second Deputy Director of the Workplace for Authorities Coverage Coordination, mentioned in a briefing on the Seoul Authorities Complicated the day past, “We’re very sorry for inflicting confusion to the general public,” and added, “We’re fully banning and blocking abroad direct purchases of 80 hazardous objects upfront.” “It’s not true,” he mentioned.
Kim Sang-mo, Director of Product Security Coverage on the Nationwide Company for Expertise and Requirements, mentioned, “For the protection of direct buy, we proposed a plan to dam such merchandise as a result of KC-certified merchandise are confirmed to be secure by means of legislation revision,” including, “KC certification just isn’t the one technique. “We’ll fastidiously contemplate whether or not to revise the legislation by gathering numerous opinions sooner or later,” he mentioned.
On the time of the announcement on the sixteenth, the federal government banned abroad direct buy of 34 kids’s merchandise and 34 electrical and family items with out KC certification, and 12 family chemical merchandise had been banned from abroad in the event that they weren’t reported or authorised. It was introduced that direct balls can be banned. This was interpreted to imply that any product that has not obtained KC certification will likely be blocked from getting into the nation.
Shoppers and politicians criticized the coverage for ‘extreme regulation’, ‘half-baked coverage’, and ‘limitation of shopper selection’, and the federal government held a briefing three days later and defined that “there was confusion.” Ultimately, the federal government reexamined its plan to revise the ban on abroad direct buy of merchandise that didn’t obtain KC certification, and determined to conduct security checks and block the entry into the nation of solely merchandise that had been confirmed to be hazardous.
After confirming the dangers of 80 objects in June, the federal government will block direct purchases of these merchandise, however this solely applies to particular fashions from particular producers the place the issue was revealed. For instance, when a threat is confirmed in stroller B of producer A, direct buy of solely B is blocked, and stroller C of producer A is offered for direct buy.
Nonetheless, this coverage is already in impact, and questions are raised as as to if the quite a few direct purchases of merchandise might be correctly investigated. Though there are not any government-wide measures, associated ministries such because the Korea Customs Service are already conducting threat checks throughout customs clearance procedures.
Not too long ago, the Korea Customs Service and the Seoul Metropolitan Authorities carried out security checks on kids’s merchandise offered on Ali and Temu, abroad direct buy platforms, and a considerable amount of substances dangerous to the human physique had been detected within the merchandise.
As well as, the quantity of abroad direct purchases by home shoppers final yr was KRW 6.8 trillion, a rise of practically 30% in comparison with the earlier yr, and the amount of customs clearance objects getting into the nation within the first quarter of this yr was roughly 41.33 million, or roughly 460,000 per day.
In a state of affairs the place so many merchandise are introduced into the nation each day by means of abroad direct buy, it’s troublesome to shortly conduct security checks, and even when dangers are confirmed, shoppers who’ve already bought them grow to be victims.
Amongst shoppers, the coverage of not insisting on solely KC certification for security certification is claimed to be a gathering of appropriate opinions, however there’s additionally a response from home small and medium-sized companies that it’s ‘reverse discrimination’.
An official from a small enterprise mentioned, “Merchandise bought straight from abroad solely must endure a easy security take a look at with out correct certification or regulation, however we now have to supply and promote merchandise whereas present process quite a few laws, comparable to acquiring KC certification.” Taking these components into consideration, our costs “In fact, it is going to grow to be costlier, and ultimately, competitiveness will decline and solely abroad direct sellers will survive,” he mentioned.
Though the federal government began this coverage to guard the general public’s security and shield the home business from merchandise bought straight from abroad, some level out {that a} clear apology and countermeasures are wanted for the confusion brought on by the half-baked coverage.
Second Deputy Minister of State Lee Jeong-won mentioned, “If you happen to have a look at Article 237 of the Customs Act, it states that ‘blocking measures are potential when it causes hurt to the general public well being.’ Primarily based on this, if authorities ministries cooperate and proceed intensively, information might be gathered and statistics might be collected.” He mentioned, “As the brand new legislation comes out, we’ll sufficiently collect public opinion and discover out if there’s a technique to stop it by means of different means than measures to dam the danger.”
Deputy Director Lee mentioned, “Whether it is confirmed that there are issues that can not be detected by means of threat testing, we’ll block them in any respect prices, even when it means utilizing different strategies, in order that the general public doesn’t use harmful merchandise with out their data.”
Reporter Kim Jeong-hyeon Picture Information 1
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2024-05-20 10:33:05