Research Report
A Study on the Improvement of Legislation to Establish a Safety System for Children`s Products
Ⅰ. Background and Purpose
○The ｢Special Act on the Safety of Children’s Products｣ has been implemented to ensure the safety of products used by children under the age of 13, a group more vulnerable to hazardous chemicals and other risks due to their limited experience and understanding of safety compared to adults.
○The 「Special Act on the Safety of Children’s Products」 categorizes children’s products according to their potential risk level into three groups—those subject to safety certification, safety verification, and the supplier’s declaration of conformity—and requires products that meet the relevant safety standards to bear the KC mark before being distributed in the market to ensure pre-market safety management. The act also provides post-market safety management through mechanisms including safety investigations, recall orders, inspections of unlawful products, customs inspections, and the imposition of penalties.
○Since the enactment and implementation of the 「Special Act on the Safety of Children’s Products」, a wide variety of children’s products incorporating convergent and new technologies, such as AI- and IoT- based devices, has emerged and been distributed in the market. At the same time, the rapid shift toward online consumption has accelerated changes in the consumer environment, and consumer expectations regarding the safety of children’s products have risen, altering the overall environment for children’s products and increasing potential safety risks.
○Despite efforts to enforce the 「Special Act on the Safety of Children’s Products」, companies that make children’s products frequently face insufficient safety-management capabilities, and administrative personnel responsible for enforcing the safety regulations for children’s products remain inadequate, which presents added challenges in terms of forming timely responses to the evolving safety environment of children’s products. In addition, regulations for the expedited processing of safety certification remain inadequate, and the rising number of accidents involving child safety emphasizes the need for education and awareness initiatives on the safe use of products for children, although there is limited direct legal basis for such measures, indicating the need for improvements. To further strengthen the safety system regarding children’s products, it is necessary to examine and address the limitations revealed during the 10-year implementation of the 「Special Act on the Safety of Children’s Products」 and to consider appropriate measures for improvement.
○In this context, legislative research aimed at establishing a more rational and efficient children’s product safety system is urgently required through a thorough analysis of the limitations revealed during the 10-year implementation of the 「Special Act on the Safety of Children’s Products」 and a comparative study of similar domestic and international legislation.
○This study aims to analyze the current status and limitations of the 「Special Act on the Safety of Children’s Products」, derive insights through a comparative analysis of similar domestic and international legislation, and propose enhancements to the legal framework to create a more robust safety system for children’s products.
Ⅱ. Main Content
○Chapter 2 provides an analysis of the current status and limitations of "Special Act on the Safety of Children's Products".
○Chapter 3 provides a comparative analysis of similar domestic legislative cases to draw relevant insights and implications.
○Chapter 4 provides a comparative analysis of similar international legislative cases to draw relevant insights and implications.
○Chapter 5 proposes measures to improve the legislation to establish a safety system for children's products.
○Chapter 6 summarizes the contents as a conclusion.
○This Study conducted at the suggestion of the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards belonging to the Ministry of Trade and Industry. This study involved individual consultations and advisory conferences with policy and legal experts from government, academia, research institutions, consumer groups, and the legal field, as well as regular research meetings with Korean Agency for Technology and Standards’s working staff to enhance the quality and practical applicability of research results, striving to promote the sharing and distribution of research experiences and outcomes.
Ⅲ. Expected Effects
○This study is expected to contribute to establishing a legal-theoretical basis for fostering an environment in which children can use such products more safely and with peace of mind.
○It is also expected to aid in the development of approaches for establishing a more rational and efficient children’s product safety system.