From now on, design and development corporations in advanced industries such as the robotics sector will also be able to receive Korea Industrial Standards (KS) certification. Small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners will receive support for the expense of obtaining certification and for equipment.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources' Korean Agency for Technology and Standards said on the 8th that a proposal to promulgate a partial amendment to the Industrial Standardization Act reflecting these details was approved at a Cabinet meeting. After a six-month preparation period following promulgation, the amended law will take effect in Mar. next year. This amendment codifies the KS certification system reform plan announced at the Economic Ministers' Meeting in Feb. this year and is a full-scale overhaul for the first time in 65 years since the KS certification system was introduced.
The amendment lowers the bar for certifying advanced industry products. Until now, even though Hyundai Motor and Samsung Electronics designed and developed advanced robots such as wearable robots and produced them through original equipment manufacturing (OEM), they could not obtain KS certification because, under the existing system, only corporations owning factories could be certified. Going forward, the eligible entities will be expanded so that such design and development corporations can obtain KS certification, and the types of certification audits will be diversified. For small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners, the certification expense and the use of testing and inspection equipment will be supported, and excellent corporations will receive incentives such as awards and exemptions from regular audits.
Meanwhile, post-management will be tightened. A government investigation authority has been newly established to address illegal acts such as misuse and forgery of certification marks, and, if necessary, administrative agencies can conduct market surveillance of products ex officio. Products with high risk concerns will be managed up to whether they comply with recall orders. A legal basis has also been prepared for designating and operating an institution dedicated to the system reform.
Kang Dae-ja, head of the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards, said, "KS certification has been Korea's representative certification system that has contributed to the competitiveness and quality improvement of domestic industry over the past 60-plus years," and added, "We will thoroughly prepare follow-up measures so that KS supports a new leap for our industry in advanced industrial environments such as artificial intelligence (AI)."