Expiration Dates Set for 5,000 Regulations

A “sunset system” introduced in 1998 will be applied to all regulations by 2010.

President Lee Myung-bak ordered ministries to expand the system to 5,000 government directives yesterday in a National Competitiveness Committee meeting at the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae.

The system had applied to 89 regulations and automatically repeals rules at preset expiration dates.

Regulations set before the rule was effected, 2,500 unregistered regulations, and those introduced by legislators have not been subject to the rule, thus rendering the system obsolete, many experts said.

The system will be expanded to all regulations except for internationally recognized rules and those that automatically discontinue or update after a certain period of time, such as one on air pollution management. This will eliminate unnecessary regulations that have hampered business activities and effectively reduce red tape.

The system will be run in two forms to boost its effectiveness. One will automatically scrap regulations upon expiration and the other will make it mandatory to review the adequacy of regulations.

In an initial move, 1,500 registered regulations – 1,000 business and 500 social -- will be given expiration dates this year to bring about immediate results.

The government will also closely cooperate with the National Assembly to expand the system to legislator-introduced regulations.

The Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry also held a briefing on raising agricultural competitiveness. It announced measures to allow private capital to invest in farming companies specializing in production and distribution, and to let large corporations run large-scale livestock businesses.

Under the measures, a regulation restricting private capital to under a 75-percent stake in farming companies will be lifted as early as December.

Also set for elimination is a regulation banning large companies from entering the livestock industry. Under law, a large corporation cannot run a pig farm with more than 500 pigs or a poultry farm with more than 50,000 chickens.

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