It has been confirmed that 81% of summer water play products imported into the country through overseas direct purchases do not meet safety standards. Among them, it was found that there were no air chambers, and they did not meet the appropriate buoyancy requirements. There are concerns that this could be a factor in summer safety accidents, necessitating caution.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 26th that a safety investigation on summer products sold on overseas direct purchase online platforms, which are popular among domestic users, found that 58 out of 396 products did not meet safety standards.
In particular, 22 out of 27 water play devices were found to not meet safety standards. Domestic safety standards require that water play devices have at least two air chambers, so that even if one air chamber experiences a 'puncture' or other issue, the structure is designed to prevent sinking. However, among the overseas direct purchase products, many had only one air chamber or inadequate volume for independent air chambers.
In addition to water play products, among the 91 electrical products surveyed, 18 products including LED lighting fixtures (8), plugs and outlets (4), and direct current power devices (3) did not meet safety standards.
A representative from the National Institute of Technology and Standards noted, "As a result of the study, the non-compliance rate for safety standards among the 396 summer products was found to be 14.6%, which is three times higher than the average non-compliance rate of 5.0% in safety investigations of domestically distributed products in the first half of this year."
Kim Dae-ja, the head of the National Institute of Technology and Standards, said, "Overseas direct purchase products are allowed for purchase without KC certification in order to protect consumer choice." He added, "To ensure product safety during the summer, consumers must exercise special caution, such as checking for harmful product information before making a purchase."