Stronger monitoring on domestic distribution of products recalled overseas

-Sales suspension of 11 products-

  Products recalled overseas due to safety issues appears to be purchasable via certain online purchasing agents, prompting the Korea Consumer Agency (www.kca.go.kr) to take corrective action.

  From January to April 2015, the KCA monitored whether products recalled overseas (such as the US, Europe, and Canada), were being distributed in the domestic market. The KCA found that nine products^* were available on certain purchasing agent websites, leading to corrective measures taken against the relevant business operators.

   * Nine products: ski boots (SCARPA F1 EVO Ski Boots), souffle (Garden Lites Southwestern Soufflé), salsa sauce (Clint's Black Bean & Corn Salsa), false eyelash glue (Sephora Collection False Eyelashes Glue), dried tofu snack (Te Chang Tofu Cake), adjuvant (GAT Jet Fuel Super Burn), sunflower seeds (Go Raw 100% Organic Sprouted Sunflower Seeds), coffee machine (Keurig MINI Plus Brewing System), and bath toy (Barbapapa Animals Bath Toy 4 pieces by Plastoy)

  Accordingly, the business operators immediately suspended sales and decided to offer free repairs (same measures taken abroad) to domestic consumers who purchased the above-mentioned products.

  While baby carriages (Stokke Trailz) and baby mattresses (IKEA VYSSA crib mattress) were not distributed in the domestic market, domestic business operators carrying such overseas brands purchased directly via onsite and online decided to offer free repairs, exchanges or refunds.

  Given the difficulty in completely blocking the sale of products recalled overseas through online shopping malls, the KCA strongly advised consumers using overseas online shopping malls and purchasing agents to check for recall information before making purchases via the Consumer Injury Surveillance system (www.ciss.go.kr) or Smart Consumer (www.smartconsumer.go.kr).

  Going forward, the KCA plans to strengthen monitoring and take prompt measures regarding domestic distribution of products recalled overseas. In addition, through the “Cross-border Transaction Portal Site’ (to be set up in September), the KCA will work to prevent consumer damages by providing information on fraudulent operators/sites and overseas product recalls.