Take pre-inspection for all packaging materials alone… Yoon Mi-hyang’s regulation on regulation

As the ruling party lawmakers proposed a bill requiring pre-inspection of packaging materials, the industry’s backlash is strong. Workers at a manufacturer are packing. Hankyung DB

The ruling party, along with Democratic Party lawmakers, pushed for a bill that required all packaging materials to undergo pre-inspection, saying that they would reduce the generation of packaging waste. This is because there are concerns about side effects such as the burden of enormous inspection costs and delays in launching new products. The bill covers virtually all new and existing products that use packaging materials such as food, cosmetics, detergents, miscellaneous goods, quasi-drugs, clothing, electronics and toys. The industry is protesting that it is a’pre-inspection of packaging materials’, which is unprecedented in the world.

According to industry sources on the 16th, the National Assembly Environment and Labor Committee is scheduled to hold a plenary meeting on the 17th to propose an amendment to the’Act on the Promotion of Saving and Recycling of Resources’ initiated by Democratic Party Member Yoon Mi-hyang. According to the legislation, manufacturers, importers, and sellers of products in Korea must inspect the packaging material and packaging method before launching the product at a specialized agency determined by the Ordinance of the Ministry of Environment and display the results on the outside of the packaging. There are 100,000 companies covered.

The bill goes into effect one year after the promulgation, but existing products must also be inspected within two years after it is implemented. If they do not undergo a preliminary examination or mark it as false, they will be imprisoned for up to one year or fined up to 10 million won. Under the current law, the Minister of Environment recommends labeling the surface of packaging materials and packaging methods, but does not enforce it.

In the industry, there is a reaction that says, “It’s amazing.” A food industry official said, “Considering that there are 60,000 food companies and 1.2 million registered products, only the food industry will have to pay at least tens of billions of billions of dollars.” An official in the cosmetics industry said, “Currently, there are only two institutions that can inspect packaging, the Korea Environment Corporation and the Korea Institute of Construction and Life Testing.” He said, “It is expected that it will take about a week to a month for the packaging material to be inspected, so the launch of new products will lead to a side effect of delaying the release of new products.”

Representative organizations by industry, such as the Korea Food Industry Association, the Korean Cosmetics Association, the Small and Medium Business Federation, the Information Technology Industry Council, and the Korea Electronic Information and Communication Industry Promotion Association, submitted a’no’ opinion to the National Assembly or the Ministry of Environment. The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea and the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea, representing foreign companies, also participated.

1.2 million products in the food industry… “How long do you mean to be tested?”
Strong backlash from the manufacturing industry to the previous’regulation of packaging waste’

After ruling party lawmakers pushed for unprecedented regulations in the world such as the’pre-inspection system for packaging materials’ and’mandatory labeling’, an emergency took place in the industry. There are concerns that it will only lead to delays in launching new products, cost burdens on the industry, and confusion among consumers, without achieving the legislative purpose of’containing packaging waste and promoting recycling’.

○“Get all packaging materials pre-inspected”

The amendment to the’Act on the Promotion of Saving and Recycling of Resources (Resource Recycling Act)’ initiated by 12 Democratic Party lawmakers including Democrat Yoon Mi-hyang is whether the standards for packaging methods such as packaging material, packaging space ratio and number of packaging are observed. It is mandatory for manufacturers, importers, and sellers to undergo preliminary inspection by specialized agencies. On the product packaging, the packaging material, packaging space ratio, number of packaging, inspection date, and the name of a specialized inspection institution should be indicated. The packaging space ratio refers to the difference in volume between packaging and contents.

According to the legislation, if the packaging of previously launched food and beverage products, cosmetics, detergents, toys, stationery, miscellaneous goods, clothing, and portable small electronic products, including new products, are not inspected within two years, the manufacture, importer, and seller of the product will be penalized. Will receive until. The bill, which was initiated by Congressman Yoon, was jointly initiated by 11 Democrats including Rep. Song Ok-ju, chairman of the National Assembly Environment Labor Committee, and Rep. Ahn Ho-young, secretary of the Hwanno Committee. If it passes the bill review, it will be admitted to the plenary session after going through the resolution of the Hwanno Committee and the National Assembly Legislative Judicial Committee.

○ Revolt against the industry’s “regulation on packaging of colostrum”

The industry is protesting that it is an unprecedented packaging regulation. This is because there is a concern about the huge burden of inspection costs and delays in launching new products. Currently, the packaging inspection cost per product is around 53,000 won. A food industry official said, “There are only 2,300 new products released by the top six food companies annually, and only 15,100 existing products that need to be tested will cost tens of billions of dollars.”

The Korea Toy Industry Cooperative, which has a domestic toy company as a member, also predicts that only 500 toy companies will bear inspection costs at 2.9 billion won per year. An official from the toy association explained, “There are additional costs, such as having to re-produce the existing packaging or attach a sticker.”

An official in the packaging industry said, “It is a problem that hundreds of packaging material companies that deliver, not just one company, have to change the production process,” and said, “I doubt whether packaging material companies with annual sales of less than 1 billion won can comply with government regulations.”

○ Concerns about delays in new products and information leakage

Product development costs are also expected to rise. According to the amendment, product manufacturers such as food, cosmetics, electronics, and toys should develop packaging materials and conduct self-inspection, as well as send finished products made through formal production lines to an authorized agency for inspection. Additional production is possible only after passing this, otherwise the entire product manufactured for inspection must be disposed of.

An official in the food industry said, “In order to undergo a pre-inspection, you must produce a finished product, not a sample, and submit it to an authorized agency.” “It only takes 1 million won to make the copper plate to stamp the packaging material, and there is a minimum production quantity when the factory is operated, so if the inspection fails, the cost burden increases.”

The inspection period is expected to take at least one week to a month, delaying the launch of new products, resulting in greater damage to consumers. Currently, there are only two places where preliminary inspection of packaging materials is possible: the Korea Environment Corporation under the Ministry of Environment and the Korea Institute of Construction and Life Testing under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. An official in the electronics industry said, “In the industry that produces small quantities of multiple products, it is a regulation that suffers losses.” “As the industry’s competition for developing speed products to meet consumer trends becomes impossible, the damage will fall to consumers.”

Product information leakage is also a concern. Kang Hyung-deok, head of the manufacturing innovation division of the Small and Medium Business Federation, pointed out, “In a situation where new product information is important (through mandatory pre-inspection), if the information is leaked to competitors, it causes enormous damage to the business activities of the company.” For confectionery products that can be broken by external shocks during distribution, or kimchi that can change in volume due to fermentation, the’packaging space ratio’ may change after preliminary inspection, so manufacturers and sellers may be confused as criminals. It is also an obstacle that it is difficult to label small-capacity (less than 30g) food on the packaging itself.

Reporter Ahn Dae-gyu/Kim Bo-ra [email protected]