Hyundai AutoEver, Wizcore win Swiss AI certificates under mutual recognition pact

South Korea's industry ministry said Tuesday that two Korean companies have received Swiss certificates for their industrial artificial intelligence products under a mutual recognition arrangement, allowing them to reach overseas customers without repeating tests already conducted at home.

Hyundai AutoEver and Wizcore were awarded the joint certificates at the fourth Industrial AI International Certification Forum in Seoul, held by the ministry with the Korea Testing Laboratory (KTL) and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology. The certificates stem from a mutual recognition agreement between KTL and CertX, a certification body belonging to Swiss testing giant SGS Group.

Under the arrangement, companies can obtain overseas certification for covered items without undergoing the same testing again. The certificates are based on Korean test and evaluation results and are issued for use worldwide.

Korea's industrial AI certification, known as M.AX certification, verifies the performance and reliability of products and services used in factory automation, such as automated defect inspection and equipment failure prediction. The certification covers three areas under ISO/IEC standards: performance evaluation including AI classification accuracy, quality evaluation including AI security and accuracy, and safety and reliability assessment.

"The issuance of these overseas certificates is a meaningful achievement that shows the international applicability of Korea's testing and certification system," said Kim Kyu-sung, head of the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards. He said the agency would expand mutual recognition with foreign certification bodies to reduce duplicate testing for companies and help M.AX firms enter global markets.

The ministry said the certificates are expected to help Korean companies prepare for overseas AI rules, including the European Union's AI Act, which took effect in August 2024 and is being rolled out in stages, with broad regulation of AI products and services scheduled for August 2028.