Cabinet approves amended enforcement decree of Consumer Cooperative Act
Ministry of SMEs and Startups to handle federation licensing
Local governments retain oversight of individual co-ops
Ministry to draw up development plan to boost co-op sector
Oversight of consumer lifestyle cooperatives will shift from the Korea Fair Trade Commission to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, which plans to roll out a development plan and other support measures to invigorate the sector.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said Tuesday that the Cabinet approved a partial amendment to the enforcement decree of the Consumer Lifestyle Cooperative Act.
The amendment follows the revision of the Consumer Lifestyle Cooperative Act on May 12 and serves as a follow-up measure to align administrative procedures and delegated regulations with the change in supervising ministry.
Under the revised decree, all references to the Korea Fair Trade Commission as the competent authority will be replaced with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Matters previously governed by prime ministerial ordinance will also shift to ministerial ordinance of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. The amended regulations take effect Nov. 13.
The ministry will take over responsibilities including the licensing of consumer cooperative federations and national federations. However, the licensing, management and oversight of individual consumer cooperatives will remain with the relevant provincial and metropolitan governments, as before.
The transfer is expected to shift the policy focus from the Fair Trade Commission's regulatory framework toward the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' support and development approach. A structure has been established in which local governments retain supervisory authority over individual cooperatives while the ministry handles policy support at the federation level.
Ahead of the transition, the ministry met with representatives of consumer cooperative federations to gather field input and prepare its policy support measures.
The ministry said it plans to develop a comprehensive plan for the stable operation and revitalization of consumer cooperatives and to flesh out related support measures going forward.
boo@heraldcorp.com
