Gov¡¯t to streamline industry standards

The erratic national standards used in various ministries are to be uniformed and improved. The Ministry of Commerce,Industry and Energy announced on September 5 that it would begin an investigation on the details of various national standards used in 19 ministries to improve and unify the standards.

The ministry will unify the standards after a close investigation comparative to the Korea (Industrial) Standards.

The ministry is determined to improve the national standards, as different ministries use different sets of standards that are inconsistent even with the Korea Standards, causing confusion and waste.

As of December 31, 1998, it is estimated that out of 17,418 items of the national standards used in government ministries, only 1,136 items are consistent with the Korea Standards, which corresponds to the consistency rate of 6.5%.

This is due to the fact that 19 ministries administer different sets of national standards on a single item. As the national standards are administrated according to 60 different regulations, the ministries are using different standard forms and languages.

For instance, in calibrating water quality, the test method differs between the Korea Standards and the Ministry of Environment. The KS stipulates the test under 128 items, while the environmental law divides the items by 51 items for drinking water and 29 items for wastewater.

This has caused confusion and distrust in the national standards at industrial sites.

The Ministry of Commerce Industry and Energy will create a mediating entity known as the review committee for the national standards based on the investigation to improve and amend various standards used in various ministries.

Lee Myung-Jai mjlee@donga.com