"Buying Unlabeled Bottled Water Individually, Not in Bundles"…7 Cases of Regulatory Innovation for Livelihood

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] 'No-label bottled water,' which was only available for sale in bundles, can now be purchased individually at convenience stores and other locations. Toll fees for eco-friendly vehicles such as electric and hydrogen cars will be discounted by 50% on privately operated toll roads. When local governments utilize national properties such as idle railway land, usage fees will be significantly reduced.

The Office for Government Policy Coordination announced on the 16th seven cases of regulatory innovation in the livelihood sector selected through the Regulatory Reform Petition Box (hereinafter referred to as the Regulatory Petition Box).

Until now, no-label bottled water could only be sold in bundles on the condition that 11 product information items, including product name, expiration date, and water source, were mandatorily displayed on the outer packaging. However, from now on, individual sales will be possible at convenience stores and vending machines. The Ministry of Environment plans to revise the "Standards and Specifications for Drinking Water and Labeling Standards" by next month. It will allow product information to be displayed using QR codes, etc., on individual PET bottles.

The Office for Government Policy Coordination stated, "Along with promoting eco-friendly consumption, it is expected that the separate collection of empty PET bottles will be further activated, contributing to resource recycling."

Other regulatory innovation cases in the livelihood sector include toll fee discounts for eco-friendly vehicles (electric and hydrogen cars) on privately operated toll roads, significant reductions in usage fees when national properties such as idle railway land are used for public purposes like parks, simplification of attaching recognition marks on outdoor advertisements such as signboards, rationalization of mandatory school land securing standards in housing remodeling projects, unification of the age restriction to 19 years old for entry bans at PC rooms and similar establishments after 10 p.m., and exemption from information provision obligations for those exempted from the obligation to report telecommunication sales business for online shopping malls.

The government operates the Regulatory Petition Box as a channel where field regulations can be proposed, and as of the end of last month, it has received 1,640 cases and improved 161 of them. On the 23rd, it plans to announce cases of improvements in the economic sector.

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