"Too Many Certifications Lower Corporate Competitiveness"

[Interview] Kim Bokdeok, Chairman of Korea Electric Lamp LED Industry Cooperative
12 Certifications Including KS for One Item, Lighting Industry Spends Over 100 Billion Won Annually

Kim Bok-deok, Chairman of the Korea Electric Lamp LED Industry Cooperative, poses at the Sorux R&D Center located in Magok-dong, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, where he manages.
[Photo by Sorux]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] "How can the lighting industry have any global competitiveness when it wastes hundreds of billions of won annually just on certification costs?"

Kim Bok-deok, Chairman of the Korea Lighting Equipment LED Industry Cooperative, said, "There is no other country with as many certifications as South Korea." When I recently met Chairman Kim at Solux's R&D Center in Magok-dong, Seoul, he unleashed a series of blunt remarks as if he had made up his mind.

Chairman Kim stated, "In this small country alone, there are more than 42 testing and certification agencies just for electromagnetic wave certification. Even in the United States, with a population of 350 million, there are only a few private testing and certification agencies," adding, "Because there are so many certifications and it has become profitable, well-known funds are investing in these private testing and certification agencies. This is the reality." He pointed out that the numerous government-required 'certifications' for companies to produce and sell products reduce their competitiveness.

In particular, the lighting sector has an unusually high number of certifications compared to other industries. There are six widely known certifications alone: KC (Safety), KS (Standard), High-Efficiency Certification, Efficiency Grade Certification, Green Certification, and Eco-Friendly Certification. In addition, companies must obtain certifications such as Excellent Procurement Product Certification, K Mark, Q Mark, ISO9001, ISO14001, and Electromagnetic Wave Certification, resulting in a total of 12 certifications for a single product item.

In the United States, only three certifications are required: UL (Safety), ETL (High Efficiency), and FCC (Electromagnetic Wave). Europe requires CE (Safety), Japan requires PSE (Safety) and JIS (Quality), and China requires CCC (Safety and Environment) certifications. However, in South Korea, companies must repeatedly obtain overlapping and similar certifications.

In the case of Solux, the lighting company managed by Chairman Kim, about 800 million won was spent on certification fees last year. This cost exceeds 1% of last year's sales of 70 billion won. Solux, one of the leading companies in the domestic lighting industry, produces many products and obtains approximately 4,000 certifications annually.

Chairman Kim lamented, "There are about 600 to 700 lighting companies registered to supply to the Public Procurement Service. These companies spend about 150 to 180 billion won annually on certification fees," adding, "This is a typical underdeveloped country system designed to sustain government-related and subordinate organizations mainly composed of retired public officials."

Given these circumstances, international competitiveness cannot be expected. Chairman Kim pointed out, "At a time when the perception of Chinese products in the global lighting market has significantly worsened, this is an opportunity for Korean companies, but they are failing to seize it."

He claimed, "When meeting overseas buyers, they want to use Korean products even if they have to pay a Korean premium of about 10 to 15%. However, with recent increases in international raw material prices and exchange rates, and with 1 to 2% of sales being taken away as certification fees, there is no room to lower production costs."

Chairman Kim also noted, "Most domestic industries are positioned within the global top 5, but the lighting industry fluctuates around the 20th rank," pointing out, "This is the reason why the lighting industry is underdeveloped."

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