Last Year 3,470 Recalls... Largest Increase in Five Years

Recalls Increase by 56.8% in One Year... Half Are Government Orders
1,719 Consumer Product Recalls... 807 Pharmaceutical Recalls

Fair Trade Commission Tribunal at the Government Sejong Complex.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Lee Jun-hyung] The number of corrective actions (recalls) due to product defects increased by about 57% in one year, reaching 3,470 cases last year.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission announced on the 10th that the number of recalls last year was counted at 3,470 after analyzing recall performance data from various ministries, local governments, and the Korea Consumer Agency. This is an increase of 1,257 cases (56.8%) compared to 2,213 recalls in 2020, marking the largest increase in the past five years.

Half (48.36%) of all recalls were recall orders. Last year, recall orders numbered 1,678, a 35.21% increase from 1,241 cases the previous year. During the same period, voluntary recalls rose from 699 to 1,306 cases, an increase of 186.83%. The proportion of voluntary recalls in total recalls also increased by 6.04 percentage points in one year, from 31.59% to 37.63%. Recall recommendations last year were 486 cases, up 178.02% from 273 cases the previous year.

Trend of Administrative Orders (Recalls).
[Photo by Korea Fair Trade Commission]

By product category, recalls of industrial products were the highest at 1,719 cases, followed by pharmaceuticals (807 cases), automobiles (314 cases), and medical devices (284 cases). Among the 1,719 industrial product recalls, chemical products accounted for 916 cases, mainly including fragrance and deodorizing products (26.85%), candle products (23.25%), and cleaning products (11.13%). Most chemical products were recalled due to violations of safety and labeling standards.

Local government recalls last year totaled 78 cases, an increase of 11 cases in the past year. Local governments are obligated to enforce and report orders for the collection and recall of defective products. Most local government recall orders were related to food products. Gangwon-do showed the highest recall performance among local governments.

Comparison of Recall Cases by Type. [Photo by Korea Fair Trade Commission]

The Fair Trade Commission plans to strengthen the monitoring system related to recalls. First, the commission plans to expand the participating institutions of the "Overseas Hazardous Products Council" to prevent hazardous products recalled overseas from circulating domestically. The council currently consists of six institutions, including the Fair Trade Commission, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and Korea Customs Service.

The monitoring and corrective functions of private organizations will also be strengthened. The Fair Trade Commission will monitor the distribution and redistribution of hazardous products centered on consumer groups and other private organizations. If administrative actions such as recall orders or system improvements are necessary, they plan to recommend them to the relevant ministries.

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