Toward regulatory reform on maritime affairs

Cho Seung-hwan

The author is Minister of Oceans and Fisheries.

The seas used to be a place for fishing and transporting goods. As marine science and technology advances speedily, a new marine industry has emerged. Under such remarkable shifts, we, first of all, need to create a symbiotic ecosystem where creativity is maximized and diverse responses from stakeholders can help build a neo-marine economy. Current systems and government regulations putting the brakes on sparking ideas and flexibility only helped slow the development of new industries and gave unnecessary burdens to businesspeople, related industries and local residents.

To help change such outdated ecosystems, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries has devised demand-based initiatives for regulatory reforms: it plans to hold a public contest and collect public opinions on a wide range of issues involving marine affairs. The Ministry will first eliminate unnecessary regulations blocking the new marine economy by reviewing more than 7,200 regulations and developing new ideas to improve the system.

The global shipping industry is changing fast as seen in increasing cases of using autonomous and remotely-controlled — and eco-friendly — ships. But in Korea, even after the technology is successfully developed, it has to go through the four-step certification process. That will be streamlined by replacing it with a one-stop verification process through a private organization with expertise in the field. Furthermore, as there has been no single law that can be applied to the pilot operation of autonomous ships, applicants for the operation had to comply with multiple laws, including the Ship Safety Act and Seafarers’ Act. The government will enact a new law covering special cases of test operations of self-navigating vessels to put an end to the redundancy.

In addition, red tape on complexes adjacent to ports will be eased to facilitate related business activities. Requirements for the operation of multiple businesses will be lifted so that existing enterprises operating logistics businesses can engage in manufacturing businesses too. For example, if a logistics service provider importing textiles wants to manufacture sporting goods with those imported textiles, that is not allowed currently. So, application procedures and requirements for such an expansion of business will be simplified so that companies can operate high value-added manufacturing activities as well as the logistics business.

Meanwhile, regulations on camping facilities at beaches also will be lifted so that beachgoers can see the effects of eased regulations immediately. At the moment, installing facilities such as showers at beaches is not permitted, which caused serious problems such as campers dumping their garbage on the beach and even occupying public rest rooms for showering and cooking in some extreme cases. The Ministry plans to allow camping facility operators to install such convenient facilities at beaches after evaluating the effects of the change on the marine environment. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries expects that such a step will help escalate our beach camping culture noticeably and enable the harmonious coexistence of campers and local residents.

The ministry also plans to improve 83 regulations that caused inconveniences for the public and private businesses. The ministry hopes that these regulatory reforms will have positive outcomes for the general public and accelerate the fast shift to the neo-marine economy the government champions.