E-biz body expedites product certification

Released Date: June 14, 2016

The Korea Institute for Electronic Trade and Commerce Promotion (KIETaC) has pledged it will push to protect the authenticity of products in the e-commerce industry both at home and abroad by introducing advanced anti-counterfeiting technologies.

The e-commerce institute said it signed an agreement with Korean anti-counterfeiting technology company Nanobrick, Monday, to cooperate on preventing counterfeiting in the electronic trade and e-commerce markets.

Under the agreement, KIETaC and Nanobrick will join hands for an e-commerce platform that acts as a gateway connecting the distribution channels of Korea, China and Japan. They will also promote the e-commerce anti-counterfeiting technology called “K-Tag” as the platform’s standard to certify the authenticity of all products traded online.

“We need a highly advanced anti-counterfeiting technology such as K-Tag to boost electronic trade and e-commerce through our gateway platform that will integrate markets in Korea, China and Japan into a single marketplace,” KIETaC Chairman Shim Dong-sup said. “With K-Tag, which Nanobrick has developed specifically for the platform, we have secured a reliable measure to promote trade of authentic products and we will boost the status and credibility of our platform.”

Established last November under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), KIETaC aims at training human resources specialized in electronics trade and e-commerce and plans to establish an integrated platform for e-commerce markets in Korea, China and Japan.

Shim said the institute will seek to expand the platform to connect not only the Asian countries but also more diverse global marketplaces.

“For Korea to take the leading role in integrating electronics trade and e-commerce in Korea, China and Japan, it needs to unify seven prerequisites ― electronics payments, electronic money, tariffs, standardization, product authenticity certification, marks of origin regulations and integrated logistics,” he said. “In particular, the institute plans to focus on product authenticity certification to effectively deal with the emerging presence of fake products in the markets.”

KIETaC said K-Tag is a product tagging technology that Nanobrick has developed over the last seven years. This technology taps into the nature of new nanomaterials that change their colors when exposed to a certain magnetic field.

“This technology can be used to thoroughly block counterfeiting and duplication of products while allowing certification of genuine products both in online and offline trade,” the institute said. “In particular, online traders can trace the certification location and its history more easily while the manufacturers can use this technology as a way to promote their products.”