Korea Federation of SMEs to Revise 922 Types of 'Group Standards' by November

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (KSMB) announced on the 10th that it will undertake a major overhaul to enhance the effectiveness and reliability of group standards by November.

KSMB has been entrusted by the National Institute of Technology and Standards since 2016 to manage group standards, which are statutory voluntary standards and private standards. So far, it has encouraged revision or abolition through conformity verification procedures for group standards that do not meet current technical levels or have little practical use.

Since the introduction of the group standards system in 1993, 341 types were abolished in the first overhaul in 2018, 25 years later, and through this year's second overhaul, all unused group standards of establishing organizations that had postponed conformity verification procedures will be fully revised.

This year's overhaul targets 922 group standards whose conformity verification period (every 3 years from the registration date) has expired among 3,765 group standards registered in the ‘e-Nara Standard Certification’ as of the end of last month. Each establishing organization will conduct its own conformity verification procedure over the next six months, and group standards that are not applied for during the registration application period will undergo abolition procedures after a 30-day notice period.

Kim Gi-moon, Chairman of KSMB, said, “To be chosen by the market, group standards must reflect the rapidly changing market demands and the latest technologies in related fields and be able to improve quality,” adding, “Establishing organizations of group standards also need continuous post-management efforts.”

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