SME Distribution Center Starts Direct Production Verification for Competing Products to Enhance Expertise and Fairness

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The Small and Medium Business Distribution Center will begin direct production verification for competitive products among small and medium enterprises starting on the 25th.

Competitive products are designated by the Minister of SMEs and Startups under the "Act on the Promotion of Purchase and Sales Support of Small and Medium Enterprise Products," and public institutions must purchase only products directly produced by small and medium enterprises for the relevant items.

Direct production verification is a certification system required for small and medium enterprises to supply competitive products to public institutions, conducted through on-site inspections to confirm compliance with criteria such as factories, workforce, and equipment.

Until now, the direct production verification task has been handled by the Korea Federation of SMEs since 2007, and on-site inspections were conducted by industry-specific cooperatives. However, since this task determines eligibility for competitive bidding, it has been changed to be handled by the public institution, the Small and Medium Business Distribution Center, to enhance fairness.

The Small and Medium Business Distribution Center plans to focus on improving the expertise and fairness of the direct production verification system by reorganizing the on-site inspection method, the first step of the verification system.

First, private experts such as holders of relevant certifications, researchers, and university professors, along with specialized institutions for each product, will be responsible for on-site inspections. Additionally, to ensure fair inspections, companies previously employed by or operated by relatives, as well as member companies belonging to the same organization, will be prohibited from on-site inspections.

Despite the change in the responsible institution, the direct production verification task will continue to be conducted through the Public Procurement Integrated Information System as before, so small and medium enterprises requiring the issuance of direct production verification certificates can utilize this system.

Lee Hee-jung, Director of the Sales Policy Division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, stated, "We will strive to operate the direct production verification system fairly and efficiently to expand opportunities for small and medium enterprises that actually produce the relevant products to supply to public institutions."

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