Comprehensive Consulting Support for Complex Rules of Origin Certification Due to Multilateral FTAs

Ministry of Industry Starts Comprehensive Consulting Support for FTA Origin Management System This Year

On August 1st last year, at the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business in Yeouido, Seoul, a briefing on the joint crackdown on origin labeling violations was held, where items violating origin labeling were disclosed. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] As multilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) increase, making origin certification more complex for companies, the government announced plans to provide comprehensive consulting support related to this issue.

On the 16th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy stated that it will begin recruiting companies eligible for the '2020 FTA Origin Management System Comprehensive Consulting' from the 17th, targeting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies.

Through this project, small and mid-sized export companies operating ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems will be supported to automatically extract origin-related data and link data from partner companies to establish an integrated management system.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has been promoting this project since 2018 through Korea Trade Network (KT NET).

This year, the scale has been expanded to select about 20 export company groups (parent companies + partner companies). Each group will receive consulting support up to 45 million KRW for building origin management systems and product classification.

Among the applicants, companies with significant FTA utilization effects will be prioritized. Selected export companies and their partners can receive product classification reviews for all export items (including raw materials) from experienced customs brokers.

Personnel in charge can also attend essential training on origin management, such as basic FTA education and system operation training, on-site.

From 2018 to last year, about 10 export company groups were supported annually. According to the Ministry, many companies that participated in the project reported high satisfaction as origin management related to numerous suppliers became easier and post-verification preparations were possible.

Kim Hyung-joo, Director of Domestic Trade Policy, said, "This is a beneficial support program for export companies," adding, "I hope that companies in need will receive support to enhance their export capabilities."

Export companies wishing to participate can choose the appropriate method between 'server type (on-premise server)' and 'web service type (shared server)' according to their circumstances and apply by the 17th of next month.

The server type allows companies to install the origin management system on their own servers and operate the system independently.

The web service type uses a shared server and connects with ERP via an Open Application Programming Interface (Open API) method, enabling operation at a lower cost.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.