Update of the “Special Law on the Safety of Children’s Products” in Korea

7. July 2022 The “Special Act on the Safety of Children’s Products”, in short “Children’s Products Act”, is one of the most important South Korean regulations on the requirements for both locally manufactured and imported children’s products sold in the country. With the announcement of February 3, 2022, this law underwent some changes for the first time since 2016, which will take legal effect from August 4, 2022. Numerous products for children require KC certification in Korea.     The revision mainly deals with non-compliant products, for whom penalty descriptions used to be rather vague. A focus lies on products that fall under the so-called Safety Confirmation (Type 2) in Korea. This category currently includes, e.g., baby clothing, sports equipment and bicycles for children, highchairs, skateboards, and toys. Whenever manufacturers of KC certified products make incorrect statements when preparing test reports, untruthfully claim to be a “safety-friendly enterprise“, do not mark their products with the KC logo or apply the marking in a wrong way, the responsible Korean ministry may now demand rectification within six months (or less at its discretion) and suspend the existing certification of affected products for the corresponding period. Any marking of products with the KC logo is not permitted within this period. In the case of intentional untruthful statements from manufacturers, testing and certification institutions will further be instructed to begin re-certification of the affected products after no less than a one-year suspension period. An additional update faces the Korea Product Safety Management Agency, which will play a greater role in monitoring existing certifications in the future. It is to actively support the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the regional governments in the implementation of the relevant regulations. For this purpose, it may also impose the above-mentioned penalties on its own. Children’s products, i.e., products intended primarily for babies and children up to the age of 12, are subject to strict regulations in Korea. Many products require a KC certificate. Depending on the risk they pose to the age group, products fall into one of three certification categories, some of which require product tests or even a factory audit. Violations of the import and marking regulations are strictly punished by the authorities and may lead to fines or the loss of acquired certifications in the worst case. Feel free to contact us any time if you need assistance or have any questions regarding Korean certifications like KC, KC EMC, KCs, KCs for explosion safety products or KGS factory registration. Tel. Europe: +49-69-271 37 69 261 Tel. US: +1 773 654-2673 Email: info@korea-certification.com Urgent questions? Please do not hesitate to contact us via chat. You will find the chat window at the bottom right of each page (if this is not visible, please check your browser settings). For more information you can download our free brochure “Korea Certification Made Easy – The Booklet“.