SMEs Association Requests Environment Minister to Ease Environmental Regulations like Chemical Control Act

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwak Min-jae] The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (KSMB) announced on the 14th that it met with Han Hwa-jin, Minister of Environment, at the KSMB headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, to convey the voices of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) regarding the resolution of environmental regulations.

At the meeting, the SME sector requested relief from representative environmental regulations by industry, including ▲easing the burden of registering new chemical substances ▲relaxing qualification standards for technical personnel under the Chemical Control Act for small-scale business sites ▲withdrawal of additional packaging material evaluation criteria legislation ▲and easing regulations related to mineral carbonation CCU for carbon neutrality practice.

Attending the meeting were ▲Park Pyeong-jae, Chairman of the Surface Treatment Industry Cooperative ▲Lee Byung-yong, Chairman of the Soil Remediation Industry Cooperative ▲and Lee Yang-su, Chairman of the Dye and Pigment Industry Cooperative, who expressed their welcome for the proactive regulatory innovation intentions expressed by the Ministry of Environment since the new government’s inauguration and urged for close communication and cooperation with the SME field.

Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of the KSMB, said, “Considering the reality of SMEs, environmental regulations are complex and diverse, making compliance difficult,” and added, “We hope that the Ministry of Environment’s regulatory reform efforts, such as the launch of the Environmental Regulation Task Force, will alleviate the burden on SMEs.” He further requested, “Please do not spare policy support so that SMEs can practically implement carbon neutrality and ESG management.”

Minister of Environment Han Hwa-jin responded, “We will actively improve ‘shadow regulations’ that lack legal basis, ‘sandbag regulations’ that may restrict companies’ international competitiveness, and will rationally resolve ‘chunk regulations’ with significant ripple effects by reflecting companies’ opinions,” adding, “Please present any support needs frankly beyond regulatory improvements.”

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