47 Firms Certified with NT, EM Marks
- KATS releases a list of winners of NT and other certificates

The Korea Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) has announced a list of 47 firms certified with New Technology Mark and other certificates, the first one selected by the agency so far this year.
KATS under the umbrella of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said 18 companies, including LG Household & Health Care, received the New Technology Mark certificate; four received the Good Recycling Mark and 32 others the Reliability certificate. Taking instance, LG Household & Health Care was certified with a technology related to nano carbon ball.
By area, the six recipients belong to the info-tech field; 18 companies are from electric and electronic sectors; nine from construction and chemical sectors; and three others from the energy field. The recipients are expected to contribute much to the development of relevant industries and parts industries, KATS officials said
The latest additions bring the number of total recipients for NT Mark to 666, to 1,018 for EM mark, to 241 for GR Mark, and to 206 R Mark.
A recent survey conducted last year that the certified products registered a 27.5 percent year-on-year surge in sales and a 31 percent jump in exports in 2003.
The survey of 330 certified items, conducted in July 2003, showed that their combined sales shot up to 2.43 trillion won in 2003, up 27.5 percent over 1.9 trillion won in 2002 while their combined amounts of the certified exports soared to $1.443 billion in 2003, up 31 percent over $1.101 billion in 2002. The figures are higher than the average growth rate of 14.7 percent posted by Korean manufacturers.
The amounts of the certified items substituting for imports surged to 71 million won in 2003, up 18.6 percent from 59 million won in 2002. The rate of government agencies and public organizations choosing to prefer the certified items has shot up to 192.8 billion won in 2003, up 38 percent from 140.1 billion won in 2002.
The certified companies posted 57.2 trillion won in sales, up 8.4 percent over 52.7 trillion won in 2002, according to the survey. The increase rate for the certified companies is higher than an average growth rate of 6.1 percent for domestic manufacturers. The firms witnessed their exports surging to $22.3 billion in 2003, up 12.6 percent from $19.8 billion in 2002, and domestic sales rising to 30.4 trillion won up 5 percent over 39 trillion won in 2002. Domestic manufacturers registered an average 0.8 percent growth rate in domestic sales.
KATS has been implementing the certification system on quality and function of new technology products to speed up technological development at the private sector and help the companies make a foray into the markets with newly developed products. The agency has been operating the system since 1993 with the goal of providing potential consumers from Korea and abroad with specific information on the quality of products. nw