"Help Innovate Unmanned Delivery and Autonomous Vehicles"... Business Community Urges National Assembly to Ease 97 Killer Regulations

KCCI Submits Proposal for 'Killer Regulation Innovation Legislative Tasks'

The business community has requested the National Assembly to actively engage in prompt discussions and legislation regarding regulatory innovation bills currently pending in the National Assembly.

On the 5th, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) submitted a proposal titled "Legislative Tasks for Killer Regulation Innovation Desired by the Business Community" to the National Assembly, urging the prioritization of regulatory innovation bills pending in the National Assembly during the last regular session of the 21st National Assembly.

Although the government continues to pursue regulatory improvements mainly through amendments to subordinate statutes, considering the ripple effects across the entire industry, it is urgent to pass regulatory innovation bills. The proposal includes 97 legislative tasks across five areas?location (6 cases), environment (6 cases), labor (11 cases), new industries (32 cases), and market entry (42 cases)?classified according to the killer regulation categories announced by the Office for Government Policy Coordination in July.

The proposal also requested the prompt passage of bills related to industrial complexes, environment, and foreign employment, which the government announced in August as part of its killer regulation reform plan. Since there is high expectation among companies following the government announcement, delays in legislation could increase uncertainty about regulatory improvements, potentially dampening business activities and investments.

Currently, in the National Assembly, there are bills pending such as those proposed by Representative Im I-ja: the Chemical Substances Registration Act and Chemical Control Act (which relaxes chemical substance registration standards from 0.1t to 1t and reorganizes the hazardous chemical management system), and the Foreign Employment Act (allowing long-term employment of skilled foreign workers). Additionally, bills proposed by Representative Hong Seok-jun include the Industrial Cluster Act and Industrial Location Act (which significantly relax regulations on industrial complex tenant industries, land use, sales, and leasing for the first time in 30 years).

Major Legislative Tasks by Sector
[Image Source=KCCI]

The KCCI proposed that the National Assembly take a more proactive stance to enhance domestic industrial competitiveness, including bills to legalize unmanned delivery (Act on the Development of Living Logistics Service Industry), expand the scope of transportation business for autonomous demand-responsive passenger vehicles (Autonomous Vehicles Act), and reduce rental fees for hydrogen charging station installations (Eco-friendly Vehicle Act). Furthermore, they requested the expedited enactment of basic laws to establish grounds for fostering and supporting future industries, which are the next-generation economic growth engines, such as the Artificial Intelligence Basic Act, Metaverse Basic Act, and Blockchain Promotion Act.

They also called for prompt discussions on bills aimed at lowering entry barriers and reducing burdens on companies. Pending legislative tasks include allowing online delivery on major department store closure days (Distribution Industry Development Act), revising exclusion categories for one-person creative enterprises (One-Person Creative Enterprise Act), and abolishing restrictions on designated industries for prestigious long-established companies (Small and Medium Business Promotion Act). All these amendments were proposed 2 to 3 years ago but have yet to pass the National Assembly.

Major Killer Regulatory Innovation Legislative Tasks [Image Source=Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry]

They also urged speeding up discussions on introducing regulatory impact analysis for member-proposed bills. Six related bills are pending, and there is growing consensus within the National Assembly, making full-scale discussions possible. The need to establish an institutional foundation for pre-reviewing bills to improve legislative quality and regulatory management has been continuously raised.

Kang Seok-gu, Director of the Research Headquarters at KCCI, said, "Regulatory innovation desired by companies cannot be achieved solely by the government amending subordinate statutes. We hope that even the regulatory innovation bills already pending in the last regular session of the 21st National Assembly will be prioritized to open the way for revitalizing the economy."

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