The Ministry of SMEs and Startups is recruiting companies to participate in its "Overseas Standard Certification Acquisition Support Program."

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Han Sung-sook, hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of SMEs and Startups) announced that it will be recruiting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to participate in the third support project for obtaining overseas standard certification in 2025 starting on Wednesday, October 15.

The Overseas Standard Certification Acquisition Support Project is a project that subsidizes a portion of the costs incurred by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in obtaining the standard certification required by export destination countries during the process of expanding overseas, including certification, testing, and consulting.

This recruitment of participating companies is the last one this year, following the previous two rounds in February, May (supplementary budget), and August. A total of 280 companies (180 in the general track and 100 in the fast track) will be selected and supported, divided into the general track and the fast track, a separate track designed to support rapid certification acquisition through a simplified screening process.

For the general track, the certifications eligible for support include 546 certifications, including the EU's CE (European Standard Certification), the US's NRTL (US Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory Certification, including UL certification), and China's NMPA (China National Medical Products Administration Approval). For the fast track, there are 8 certifications, including the EU's CPNP (cosmetics) and international HALAL (food, cosmetics).

Selected companies will receive support of 50-70% of total costs, up to a maximum of KRW 100 million, based on their previous year's sales. Each company can apply for up to four projects per year. However, if the total annual application amount is less than KRW 35 million (small-sum certification), there is no limit to the number of applications.

Lee Soon-bae, Director General of Global Growth Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “This year, especially due to the U.S. tariff policy, the number of small and medium-sized enterprises wishing to diversify their export regions is increasing, so the government’s active support for this is more important than ever.” He added, “We will further expand the government’s role in the future to ensure that companies can respond quickly to various global export regulations, including certification requirements.”

Recruitment of participating companies will be held until Friday, November 14th, and detailed information, including business application, can be found on the website of the Overseas Standard Certification Support Center .

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