Allowing Packaging and Sale of Nutritional Supplements in Single Daily Doses

2020 Regulatory Special Committee Approves 12 Regulatory Sandbox Exceptions
Personalized Nutritional Supplement Recommendations and Assembly Dome Tent Installation for Glamphing Allowed

Sung Yun-mo, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy. (Photo by Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] From now on, ingredients of health functional foods such as nutritional supplements can be recommended in a personalized manner and sold in daily, single-use portions. The sale of water purifiers separated into functional kits such as purified water, cold water, and hot & cold water will be permitted. Environmentally friendly synthetic resin 'dome-type glamping assembly tents' can also be installed at campgrounds instead of traditional tents.

On the 27th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held the '1st Industrial Convergence Regulatory Sandbox Deliberation Committee of 2020' at the Korea Technology Center and approved a total of 12 regulatory sandbox exceptions including these items.

At the committee, a demonstration exception for 'personalized health functional food recommendation and sales' applied for by seven companies including Amorepacific was approved. This service analyzes consumers' dietary and lifestyle habits through surveys and recommends health functional foods that need supplementation, and allows repackaging and sales by subdividing multiple products into single or multiple intake portions.

Currently, repackaging and sales of health functional foods are not permitted under the Health Functional Foods Act. The committee decided that repackaging and packaging of health functional foods should be conducted at the point of sale under the buyer's observation, with the first purchase made at the store, and subsequent regular purchases can be made online without visiting the store.

Temporary approval was also granted for the sale of water purifiers that can be upgraded by kits for purified water, cold water, and hot & cold water. The exception for 'sale of water purifiers upgradable by purified water, cold water, and hot & cold water kits' applied for by Samsung Electronics differs from existing integrated water purifiers by separating functions into kits so customers can upgrade according to their convenience. Consumers who need cold & hot water functions can purchase only the cold & hot water kit without buying a new water purifier.

The current Electrical Appliances and Consumer Products Safety Control Act had ambiguous regulations regarding whether kits could be sold individually, but individual sales of kit-type products were permitted if the combined kits met existing safety standards. According to Samsung Electronics, 44% of water purifier users discard existing products and purchase new ones to add functions such as cold & hot water.

A demonstration exception was also approved for 'glamping assembly dome tents' made of environmentally friendly synthetic resin (high-density polyethylene, HDPE) that emits no chemical substances. The regulatory exception requested by Dome Island for 'glamping assembly dome tents' asks to allow the sale of glamping assembly dome tents made of eco-friendly synthetic resin at campgrounds.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy stated that compared to existing tent tarps, these tents are more resistant to natural disasters and fires, easier to maintain, and allow comfortable camping even under adverse weather conditions such as snow, rain, and wind. Under the current Tourism Promotion Act, the main material and safety and hygiene standards for camping facilities are set as tarps, so synthetic resin products are restricted from being registered as campground facilities.

A demonstration exception was also approved for installing digital monitor advertisements using the windows of real estate agencies in residential areas. Applied for by Real Estate POS, this exception replaces paper advertisements attached inside real estate agency windows with a single monitor (digital advertisement), allowing real-time reflection of real estate listings and providing advertising services.

The current Enforcement Decree of the Outdoor Advertisement Act restricts installation of digital advertisements in residential areas. The Regulatory Sandbox Deliberation Committee approved the demonstration exception for real estate agency monitor advertisements under conditions of 400 locations in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province and two demonstration concentrated zones (up to 100 in Anyang-si, Gyeonggi and Gangdong-gu, Seoul).

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that with the approval of these 12 regulatory exception projects, a total of 51 regulatory difficulties for convergence new products and services have been resolved since the regulatory sandbox system was implemented in January last year (32 demonstration exceptions, 6 temporary permits, and 13 proactive administrative actions).

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