Research Report
A Study on the Establishment of the Product Risk Assessment System
Ⅰ. Backgrounds and Purposes
□ Distribution of low-priced illegal and potentially defective products, not to mention new emerging products which have not been validated in accordance with relevant safety standards have been rapidly increasing with the growth of international trades, the expansion of global production and distribution, the ever increasing number of imports from abroad, the advancement of Internet mobile technologies, innovation of delivery systems, and not only a greater number of online transactions but also direct purchases of foreign products of domestic consumers.
□ Above all, new hazards have arisen relating to the emergence of complex and diverse products, one of the most prevalent being technological convergence, such as, A.I., and IoT (Internet of Things).
□ However, currently the Framework Act on the Safety of Products lacks a strong legal basis to support the product hazard evaluation system, so even when a safety investigation is conducted under market surveillance following the launch of a product, it only checks whether those safety control subject items observe the safety standards or not, which leads to a fairly poor evaluation of products, the products' defects and structural hazard concerns. In addition, it creates limitations on both scientific and objective support in terms of evaluation, recommendation or even the demand to recall a product. Moreover, it is also difficult to flexibly respond to the products with convergence technologies which are brand new.
□ Accordingly, it is required to prepare documentation on the legal framework for introducing the product hazard evaluation and response systems ranging from "the collection of product hazard information" to "the product hazard evaluation" and "the product hazard control" for South Koreans to use products without any concern.
□ Based on the above requirements, this study derives the necessity for the preparation of legal grounds for establishing a product hazard evaluation and response system based on the Framework Act on the Safety of Products and to prepare and present specific legislative plans through the analysis of current laws related to product safety, similar legislative cases and major legislations conducted overseas.
Ⅱ. Major Content
□ Chapter 2 covers the current status of product safety control on the current laws and problems thereof.
□ Chapter 3 deals with the product safety control systems in major advanced nations such as the E.U., the U.S., and Japan.
□ Chapter 4 examines the legal hazard evaluation systems in the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, or other government agencies in the Republic of Korea.
□ Chapter 5 suggests specific legislative plans for building the product hazard evaluation system based on the Framework Act on the Safety of Products.
Ⅲ. Expected Effects
□ This study is expected to contribute to preparing the legal theoretical grounds for introducing the product hazard evaluation systems based on the Framework Act on the Safety of Products.
□ This study is expected to contribute to establishing the leading product safety control systems for all Koreans to safely use products without concern.