The ACRC put forward a range of measures to ensure good quality and safety of the goods procured for public organizations, such as tightening the standards for inspection of goods and sharing information about the goods that failed inspection among public organizations.

The ACRC came up with a plan to reinforce inspection of public procurement and recommended it to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Ministry of the Interior, and Public Procurement Service.

While the volume of public procurement in Korea accounts for 7.5% of the GDP (KRW 112 trillion), budget waste and various kinds of safety accidents, caused by forgery and falsification of test reports, supply of goods different from the contract, and cursory inspection, have resulted in undermining the national economy.

To solve such problems, the ACRC, in consultation with the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Ministry of the Interior, and Public Procurement Service, created the following action plans and recommended reflecting these plans in the administrative rules of national/local contract-related laws.

- State-authorized testing agencies should directly deliver the test results to the concerned agencies to prevent suppliers from counterfeiting and falsifying test results.

- New inspection items should be added to the inspection list to check if new or patent technology has actually been applied to products and the goods, which were designated as good products or obtained quality certification, correspond to their specifications under the contract terms.

- Organizations that procure goods should register information about the goods that failed inspection including the reasons for such a failure on the "Korea ON-line E-Procurement System" (KONEPS) website (www.g2b.go.kr), and carry out follow-up management* on the goods supplied by the same company for a certain period of time (such as quality guarantee period).

* For example, supply of substitute goods, restriction of bidding, cancellation of the designation of good products or registration of an online mall on KONEPS, and cancellation of inspection exemption

- If the contract is related to the life, safety, and health and sanitation of the public and the contract price exceeds a certain amount (KRW 500 million, for example), the inspection of goods should be commissioned to a specialized organization.

The ACRC stated that these institutional improvements are expected to contribute to reducing the risks of corruption in public procurement and ensuring good quality and safety of goods.