According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korea’s Ministry of Planning and Finance, Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Industry and Energy, and Customs Department recently revealed that the South Korean government believes that exclusive agency is the reason for the high prices of imported brands, so it decided to formulate a “Program to Promote Competition in the Import Industry” through parallel imports and other methods to reduce the import prices of overseas famous brands. By then, competition between domestic exclusive agents and parallel importers of overseas brand-name clothing, cosmetics, watches and other products will gradually cause prices to fall.
At present, the price of imported brands in South Korea can be up to two or three times the price in the country. This is mainly because the Korean market has many restrictions on parallel imports, allowing exclusive agents to take advantage of their monopoly position to charge high prices. The government plans to formulate a plan by March at the earliest to expand import channels for overseas famous brands through parallel imports and other methods. Specific methods include: signing separate formal wholesale contracts with overseas brands; importing goods through other wholesalers in the country where the brand belongs; purchasing in bulk through supermarkets such as Walmart and Costco or online malls such as Amazon; and importing related goods from third countries.
In order to encourage parallel imports, the Korean government plans to relax customs clearance certification regulations, and in order to solve the problem of insufficiency in after-sales service for parallel imported goods, it has decided to establish a joint after-sales service center centered on the Parallel Import Association and other institutions to improve The reputation of parallel imported goods.
The Korean government plans to conduct a comprehensive survey on the current status of parallel imports within this month to understand the current parallel import trademarks, product quantities and other information, and formulate and announce specific plans in March. This plan is a revised plan announced by the Customs Department, so it can be implemented immediately after the government announces it.
