The European Union (EU) is set to increase the burden on Korean companies exporting products with the introduction of the Eco-design Regulation (ESPR) and the Digital Product Passport (DPP).
The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy announced on the 23rd (local time) that the ESPR was passed in the European Parliament.
The ESPR, proposed by the European Commission in March 2022, will replace the existing eco-design guidelines, which have been implemented since 2009. While the existing guidelines targeted roughly 30 items, the new regulation targets all general products distributed within the EU.
The main idea is to strengthen sustainability standards such as durability, recyclability, repairability, proportion of recycled materials, and carbon footprint for products and to introduce DPP.
The DPP is a label attached to a product that digitally collects and stores information about the entire product lifecycle, from production to distribution, consumption, and recycling. Through the DPP, consumers can understand and judge the sustainability information of the product they want.
Products that do not meet these standards will not be able to enter the EU, so the burden on companies is expected to increase.
The ESPR will come into force after obtaining formal approval from the EU Council and being published in the Official Journal. Subsequently, the European Commission will select the applicable items and develop detailed regulations for each item.
The Ministry of Industry expects that it will take at least one year after the regulation comes into effect for the specific form of the DPP and the range of information to be included to be determined for each product.
A ministry official said, “We plan to continue monitoring the trends of the European Commission and discuss the trends related to the Korea-EU FTA Goods Trade Committee and the impact on the industry. We will respond by closely communicating with the domestic industry to minimize the potential burden on our companies.”