Food and Health Functional Food Sales Businesses Can Now Operate from Home Without Separate Office ... "Aiming to Revitalize Online Business"

Fair Trade Commission Prepares '2020 Measures to Improve Competition-Restrictive Regulations'

Permission for Shared Offices in 8 Business Types Including Imported Bottled Water Sales
Exemption from Rainwater Runoff Reduction Facility Installation for Small-Scale Factories
Integration of Procedures for Appraisers' Registration and Office Opening Reports
Inclusion of Pregnancy and Childbirth in Conditions for Real Estate Agents' Leave Approval

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] From now on, 8 business types including food and health functional food distribution specialized sales, which can operate online and non-face-to-face, will be able to conduct business activities from home. Additionally, small-scale factories will be exempt from the obligation to install rainwater runoff reduction facilities, and pregnancy and childbirth will be included in the conditions allowing real estate agents to take leave.

The Fair Trade Commission announced on the 29th that it has prepared the '2020 Improvement Plan' addressing a total of 23 competition-restricting regulations that hinder online and non-face-to-face business activities and impose burdens on small and medium-sized businesses.

First, for 8 business types including food and health functional food distribution specialized sales, collective catering food sales, consigned catering business, food transportation, excrement collection and transportation, forestry business, and private navigational mark consignment management, the requirements for permits and registrations will be relaxed through amendments to the Food Sanitation Act Enforcement Rules and others in the first half of next year to allow residential homes to be used as offices.

Also, for 8 business types including imported bottled water sales, personal sewage treatment facility design and construction, personal sewage treatment facility management, water conservation business, first and second-class tree hospitals, excrement collection and transportation, livestock manure collection and transportation, and private navigational mark consignment management, related requirements will be eased to allow shared offices to be used as offices.

For small-scale factories with a site area of less than 2,000㎡, the obligation to prepare rainwater runoff reduction measures and install related facilities has been exempted through the amendment of the Enforcement Decree of the Natural Disaster Countermeasures Act in June this year.

The obligation for appraisers to report business openings will also be eased. The registration procedure for appraisers and the office opening report procedure will be integrated into one, allowing them to perform their business without additional procedures once registration is completed.

Pregnancy and childbirth will also be included in the conditions allowing real estate agents to take leave. Until now, pregnancy and childbirth were not included as reasons for licensed real estate agents to take leave exceeding six months, forcing them to close their business if they did not operate for more than six months due to pregnancy and childbirth. Accordingly, through the amendment of the Enforcement Decree of the Real Estate Agents Act in the first half of next year, pregnancy and childbirth will be included in the conditions allowing licensed real estate agents to take leave exceeding six months.

Additionally, the government will relax the requirements for accounting institutions conducting settlement audits for specific research institutions, and will ease qualification standards so that graduates from 2- or 3-year colleges majoring in martial arts fields, as well as graduates from 4-year universities, can be hired as maritime special security personnel.

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