New Product Recall System to Take Effect Next Year

Companies will have to recall manufactured goods with serious defects from next year, the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards said yesterday.

The agency will enact an enforcement ordinance of the basic law on product safety that defines detailed procedures on issuing a recall of manufactured goods.

The ordinance will be presented after consultations with relevant ministries and implemented along with the basic law in February next year.

Products subject to the law include electric goods and personal and household care products that are not regulated by laws.

Under current law, if a safety matter arises, the government cancels the certification of goods in question to prevent their sale on the market. Mayors and provincial governors are responsible for the repair, collection and destruction of faulty products.

From next year, however, if a product is proven to have severe defects, the government will issue orders to ban its sale and to collect and destroy the item. The faulty good will also be announced to the media to protect the public.

firedy@donga.com