Korea rewrites eco-friendly vehicle rules, drops practice committee

The trade and industry ministry on Monday revised its enforcement rules for the development and supply of eco-friendly vehicles, shifting technical details of what qualifies as such a vehicle into ministerial notices and abolishing its working committee on the matter.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources published the change in a ministerial decree, saying it was issued to clear up shortcomings that had surfaced in the operation of the current system and to tidy up related provisions after the committee's closure. The rules took effect the same day.

Under the revised rules, the minister must set and give notice of energy consumption efficiency standards and other technical requirements by vehicle type, engine displacement and power source, and the same applies when those standards are changed. For solar-powered vehicles, the minister may set and give notice of standards at a feasible time, taking into account the level of development of related technology and how far solar cars have been commercialized.

The revision also ties eco-friendly vehicle labels to those issued under the Clean Air Conservation Act, replacing a reference to low-emission vehicle labels issued under the special act on air quality improvement in the Seoul metropolitan area, and adjusts the name of the enforcement rules to add a space to "eco-friendly vehicles." The same filing removes the provision that had established the working committee.