Public Service-Related Organizations Standardize 'Product Lifespan'... Expecting Budget Savings on Supplies

The service life of goods (computers, desks, etc.) in public-related organizations, which varies by institution, will be standardized according to the Public Procurement Service's announced standards, and the disposal of unused goods will be mandated within six months.

Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission. / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) announced on the 21st that it has prepared the "Improvement Plan for the Goods Management System of Local Governments and Public-Related Organizations," which includes these measures to enhance the rationality of goods management administration, and recommended institutional improvements to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and 506 public-related organizations.

Currently, central administrative agencies manage and operate the usage period of goods they hold and use based on the service life announced by the head of the Public Procurement Service under the "Goods Management Act," and local governments under the "Act on the Management of Public Property and Goods." If the service life of goods has expired and they are difficult to use due to malfunction or damage or are no longer needed, they are disposed of as unused goods. If the service life has expired but there is no hindrance to use, they continue to be used for an additional 2 to 7 years without disposal.

However, according to the ACRC's field survey, public-related organizations lack unified standards, resulting in varying service lives by institution, and cases of immediate disposal regardless of the condition of goods upon expiration of the service life were frequent. In particular, among 180 public-related organizations, 83 (46%) applied more lenient standards than those announced by the head of the Public Procurement Service, causing more frequent replacement demands. Over the past four years, the value of goods disposed of early compared to the Public Procurement Service's service life under these relaxed standards amounted to approximately 5.5 billion KRW.

Unused goods, if left unattended for a long time, lose exchange value or risk being lost, making prompt disposal important. However, there were cases where 25% of metropolitan local governments, 22.5% of basic local governments, and 5.3% of public-related organizations did not promptly dispose of goods decided to be unused, leaving them unattended for more than six months, sometimes over a year.

Accordingly, the ACRC recommended unifying the service life of goods in public-related organizations according to the Public Procurement Service's announced standards and allowing continued use if there is no hindrance after the service life expires. It also recommended establishing mandatory regulations to dispose of goods within six months from the date of the unused goods disposal decision, except in special circumstances, in the public-related organizations' regulations and guidelines and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's "Local Government Goods Management Operation Standards." Along with this, the ACRC shared best practices of supporting vulnerable groups with unused goods and proposed that each institution activate support projects for vulnerable groups using unused goods.

Kim Tae-gyu, Vice Chairman of the ACRC, said, "This institutional improvement is expected to eliminate blind spots in goods management in the public sector, establish an efficient goods management system, and contribute to saving material budgets."

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