상표부착요건의 통상규범 합치성 연구- 전자파등급제 사례

초록

Amid rising concerns home and abroad on the risk to human health brought about by exposure to mobile phone EMF(Electro-Magnetic Frequencies), Korean government released a notice of the SAR grading system on September 2012. It aims to help people better understand EMF information in using mobile phones. The SAR grading system is a labelling requirement that mandates the indication of SAR grading labels on packing cases of mobile handsets, either grade 1 or 2 based on their SAR value measurements. As a technical regulation, the system is required to comply with the TBT Agreement. The USA and EU of Korea’s trading partners instituted concerns on possible violation of the TBT Agreement in connection to the system, particularly because there is no scientific rationale for why a distinction of SAR values should be made. The SAR grading system was finally enacted on August 2013, after solving pending trade issues through bilateral consultations with those countries. This study seeks to figure out legal and policy implications we should take note of to make labelling requirements go along with the TBT Agreement. For that purpose, it analyzes trade law issues exposed in the process of promoting the SAR grading system which is the first trade friction case on labelling requirements in ICT industry.

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