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U.S. industrial standards hurt fair trade
By Lee Joon-seung
SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Yonhap) -- U.S. industrial groups and laboratories that set arbitrary product testing standards for imported goods are burdening South Korean companies, a government report said Sunday.
The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (ATS) said a survey conducted on 930 local exporters and certified industrial testing laboratories revealed that they pay an average of 890 billion won (US$942.5 million) every year to meet U.S. industrial standards.
The total translates into 950 million won per each company and laboratory, with businesses also voicing discontent over requests for long, drawn-out tests that delay sales.
The ATS, under the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy, said it counted 1,069 individual cases in which South Korean businesses and institutes believed that strict industrial standards were unfair.
Of the total, 504 cases involved U.S. agencies requesting the use of specific U.S.-made testing equipment and materials in quality and safety experiments. This was followed by 179 instances of long, drawn-out tests. Other complaints that were voiced were lack of consideration for South Korean environmental conditions and climate, and generally poor or outdated technology used in tests.
"In the case of the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC), the agency insists that all tests to check for shrinkage of clothes be conducted using U.S.-made detergent," said a government official.
He added that others, like the organization that regulates auto imports, call for the exclusive use of U.S. testing equipment to evaluate safety.
"In the past, Seoul did not make an issue of this even though these rules were not internationally accepted standards set by the International Standards Organization and the International Electrotechnical Commission," the official said. He added that South Korea will ask for changes in very unfair cases.
Related to this, the ATS said it found at least 10 testing standards that were arbitrary or ineffective that need to be changed.
These include tension testing of metallic materials regulated by the American Society for Testing and Materials, carbon monoxide alarm tests conducted by Underwriters Laboratories Inc., and the pH of water extracted from wet-processed textiles carried out by the AATCC.
Other agencies cited for maintaining unfair standards were the American Society for Mechanical Engineers and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
(END)
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