Authority to appoint consumer policy panel members shifts from PM to FTC chief

The Fair Trade Commission chief will take over from the prime minister the authority to appoint private-sector members to the expert committees of the Consumer Policy Committee, under a regulatory change aimed at making the panels easier to staff and operate.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission said Tuesday the amended enforcement decree of the Framework Act on Consumers passed a Cabinet meeting. The amendment will take effect Sept. 11 after receiving presidential approval and being promulgated.

The expert committees of the Consumer Policy Committee serve as advisory bodies that research and review agenda items requiring specialized knowledge before they are submitted to the Consumer Policy Committee, a pan-government consultative body covering consumer-related policy.

The amendment transfers the authority to appoint private-sector members to the expert committees from the prime minister to the Fair Trade Commission chairman, a change the commission said would allow it to fill vacancies more quickly. Private-sector members will serve three-year terms.

The way civil servants from related ministries participate in the expert committees will also change. Under the previous rules, ministries with a stake in an agenda item were required to designate a senior civil servant in advance as a committee member. The amendment removes that requirement, allowing working-level officials to attend meetings as needed and giving the committees greater operational flexibility.

The consumer-centered management (CCM) regime will also be updated. CCM is a system that evaluates whether companies organize and run all their management activities with consumers at the center.

A revision to the Framework Act on Consumers passed in March changed the name of "consumer-centered management certification" to "consumer-centered management business operator designation," and the amendment aligns the enforcement decree's terminology accordingly. "Certification review body" becomes "designation review body," "certificate" becomes "designation document," and "certification review fee" becomes "business operator designation review fee."

The amendment also clarifies the procedure for paying designation review fees. Companies applying for business operator designation must pay the review fee directly to the designated review body before the review takes place. The change follows the revised Framework Act on Consumers, which allows fees paid by applicants to count as revenue for the body conducting the review.