Ombudsman-Korea SMEs and Startups Agency Joint S.O.S Talk... 112 Cases of Regulatory Improvement Achievements

The Small and Medium Business Ombudsman and the Small and Medium Business Corporation held the first S.O.S Talk (Regulatory Difficulty Resolution Meeting) of 2020 in Incheon on the 23rd. Photo by Ministry of SMEs and Startups

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] The Small and Medium Business Ombudsman announced on the 23rd that, in collaboration with the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KoSme), it will hold the ‘S.O.S Talk for Economic Growth and Corporate Vitality’ in 15 regions this year to resolve difficulties in key local industries and to discover and improve customized regulations. S.O.S. Talk stands for a joint meeting involving Small business, Ombudsman, and KoSme to address regulatory difficulties faced by local small and medium enterprises.

Since signing a memorandum of understanding in 2015, the two organizations have jointly held 47 S.O.S Talks, identifying 460 regulations and achieving improvements in 112 of them.

For example, they improved regulations that hindered corporate growth by allowing effervescent tablet forms, previously only permitted for health functional foods, to be used in beverages, and by permitting factory registration on R&D facility land in the Ulsan Techno General Industrial Complex.

The first S.O.S Talk of this year, themed ‘Future New Industries,’ was held at the Oakwood Hotel in Incheon on the same day. The event was attended by about 20 people, including the Ombudsman, KoSme officials, and representatives from six companies operating in Incheon, Gimpo, and Bucheon, who listened to regulatory difficulties arising during new technology development and discussed solutions.

On this day, Company A requested the relaxation of penalties for delays or designation as a non-compliant contractor in cases of unavoidable delivery delays caused by international disputes or other unavoidable circumstances.

In response, the Ombudsman stated plans to strengthen the Public Procurement Service’s pre-mediation function to prevent damages to contracting parties and to discuss the possibility of exemption by the Public Procurement Service’s discretionary authority if necessary.

Company B raised difficulties in obtaining performance certification for a new technology product, a window-type ventilation device (ventilation + air purification), due to the absence of standards. The Ombudsman explained that they would consult with relevant ministries to establish or revise national or organizational standards for the product.

Company C proposed differentiated assessments by company size for equipment funding support that is practically helpful during the initial HACCP certification and for the annual follow-up audits.

Regarding this proposal, information was provided about facility improvement funding support (up to 10 million KRW) for small-scale HACCP mandatory application companies, and the Food Safety Management Certification Institute’s technical support system was introduced, which allows exemption from regular evaluations by obtaining an excellent grade.

Park Joobong, the Ombudsman, said, “There are cases where regulations fail to keep pace with the speed of technological and industrial development, causing difficulties for companies on the ground. As a regulatory innovation problem solver, we will not stop at simply listening to difficulties but will actively consult with relevant ministries to prepare practical alternatives that satisfy small and medium ventures.”

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