Expired Onnuri Gift Certificates Usable... Increased Duty-Free Limit for Perfume

167 Cases of 'Minsheng Regulation Innovation Measures' Announced on the 22nd

From now on, contact lenses can be purchased online, and expired Onnuri gift certificates can be used. The duty-free limit for perfume for overseas travelers will be increased. Foreigners with a non-professional employment visa (E-9) will be allowed to work in restaurants, which is expected to ease the labor shortage in the food service industry.

On the 22nd, the government held the 31st Ministerial Meeting on National Issues and announced 167 items of the “Regulatory Innovation Plan for Livelihood” with these contents.

An Onnuri gift certificate usage notice is posted at a store in Cheongnyangni General Market, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Abolishing Regulations That Cause Inconvenience and Burden to the Public

According to the main measures, contact lenses, which previously had to be purchased by visiting an optical store, will be available for purchase online. This will be implemented gradually starting with disposable contact lenses in January next year.

Unlike the basic duty-free limit (800 dollars), perfume has had a separate duty-free limit of 60ml since 1979. Considering the reality that 37% of sales at duty-free shops are for perfumes over 60ml, the government raised the duty-free limit to 100ml.

To revitalize the low-income economy, Onnuri gift certificates, which have a validity period of five years, can now be used even after the expiration date. Until now, there were frequent conflicts between buyers and market merchants over gift certificates that had expired after five years. This regulatory innovation is expected to protect consumers’ rights while promoting sales in traditional markets.

The food service industry, which is suffering from a severe labor shortage, will be allowed to hire foreign workers. Unlike student and overseas Korean visas, the non-professional employment visa (E-9) has prohibited employment in the food service industry. Detailed plans regarding the scale of manpower and other improvements will be finalized and announced at the Foreign Workforce Policy Committee on the 27th.

The emergency passport issuance service, currently only available at Incheon Airport, will be expanded to regional international airports. This service supports departure by issuing emergency passports in cases where the passport is due to expire within six months but urgent departure is necessary. Starting with Gimhae Airport, the service will be gradually expanded.

In addition, grandchildren with severe disabilities will be allowed to enter senior welfare housing along with the elderly. Until now, the accompanying admission of grandchildren supported by the resident was limited to those under 19 years old.

Improving Regulatory Difficulties for SMEs and Small Business Owners

Regulatory improvement measures that bring small but significant changes tailored to field conditions also stand out.

The threshold amount for installment payment of traffic inducement charges for courier and logistics companies will be lowered. Installment payments were only allowed for amounts exceeding 5 million won, which was a burden for companies with limited financial capacity, but the threshold will be reduced to 3 million won.

Reporting and registration for about 1,700 livelihood fishermen will be easier. Previously, fishing vessels operating in specific waters near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in areas such as Goseong, Gangwon Province, and the West Sea 5 Islands had to report in person from 4 a.m., but vessels equipped with location transmitters will now be allowed to report remotely.

Companies participating in public procurement are required to obtain environmental label certification semi-mandatorily to receive additional points, but even those with KC or KS certification had to obtain overlapping certifications, causing burdens in terms of time and fees. Therefore, items with similar certifications that have minimal environmental improvement effects will be excluded from the environmental label target, and the fee payment by certified companies will be abolished.

To revitalize the beekeeping industry, beehives can be installed in conservation national forests within the scope that does not damage the forest. While the permitted uses of conservation national forests include cultivation of mushrooms, wild vegetables, medicinal herbs, and medicinal water, beekeeping was excluded, making it difficult to find suitable locations for beekeeping.

If youths maliciously use lodging facilities, business owners who have fulfilled their duty of care will be exempt from fines. Until now, lodging business owners were fined when youths stayed together by forging or stealing IDs. This regulatory innovation is expected to resolve business difficulties for about 40,000 lodging operators.

The government has selected regulatory innovation as the top priority national agenda and has completed improvements on over 1,600 regulatory innovation tasks so far. It is expected to generate an economic effect of about 101 trillion won. Representative examples include abolishing the obligation to fill out customs declaration forms, raising the transaction limit for new accounts, providing medical and welfare benefits before birth registration for unmarried fathers, and allowing chartered buses for field trips.

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