Consumer co-op oversight shifts from Fair Trade Commission to Ministry of SMEs and Startups, effective Nov. 13

Oversight of consumer lifestyle cooperatives will transfer from the Korea Fair Trade Commission to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Fair Trade Commission said a partial amendment to the enforcement decree of the Consumer Lifestyle Cooperatives Act was approved at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday. The revised decree takes effect Nov. 13.

The amendment updates the names of administrative agencies to align with revisions to the Consumer Lifestyle Cooperatives Act enacted May 12. It replaces references to the Fair Trade Commission with the minister of SMEs and Startups as the competent authority, and renames the relevant delegated regulations from a prime minister's ordinance to a Ministry of SMEs and Startups ordinance.

Under the change, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups will take charge of approving the establishment of consumer cooperative federations and national federations. However, approval for the establishment of individual consumer cooperatives, as well as their management and supervision, will remain with the relevant metropolitan or provincial governments, as before.

Ahead of the transfer, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups met with consumer cooperative federations to gather on-the-ground input as part of its policy support preparations. The ministry also plans to develop a growth strategy to invigorate the consumer cooperative sector going forward.