Recruitment of Companies for 'Overseas Standard Certification Acquisition Support'... Up to 70% Cost Support

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will recruit companies wishing to participate in the '2021 1st Overseas Standard Certification Acquisition Support Project' from February 1 to 26.

This project, aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises, supports costs such as certification fees, testing fees, and consulting fees required to obtain certifications demanded by export destination countries. Companies with annual sales of 3 billion KRW or less in the previous year will receive support for 70% of the costs, while companies exceeding 3 billion KRW will receive up to 50% support.

This year, certification acquisition will be supported with a budget of 15.3 billion KRW, an increase of about 44% compared to the previous year.

In particular, to provide global market entry opportunities for K-quarantine and bio-related companies, a separate budget of 5 billion KRW has been allocated within this project for focused support.

For companies affected by COVID-19, 70% of the required costs will be supported regardless of sales scale.

In this first recruitment, about 8.6 billion KRW will be allocated to select and support approximately 550 companies.

Eligible applicants are SMEs with direct export amounts under 50 million USD in the previous year, and support will be provided for up to 4 certifications per company and within an annual limit of 100 million KRW for about 444 overseas certifications such as the European Union Conformity Certification (CE), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA).

Additionally, costs for agents required for new certifications due to Brexit, including the UK Conformity Assessment (UKCA) certification, UK cosmetics, and chemical substance registration, will be supported.

Support will also be provided for certification transition costs for companies needing to switch certification bodies to EU countries due to the loss of authority of CE certification bodies within the UK.

The first application and registration for the Overseas Standard Certification Acquisition Support Project will be held from February 1 to 26, and applications can be submitted online through the Small and Medium Business Export Support Center website (http://www.exportcenter.go.kr).

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