Regarding the Verification of Import Clearance Requirements for Writing Instruments Such as Ballpoint Pens and Pencils Released

Writing instruments such as ballpoint pens and pencils have the characteristic of being used by a wide age range, from adults to children.

When an item is primarily used by children, the certification requirements of the Special Act on Children's Product Safety arise, so importers who have never handled such items may wonder whether there are certification requirements in this regard.

The following content is the preface related to 'stationery' in Annex 1 of the Children's Product Safety Confirmation Safety Standards.

[Preface] It refers to stationery designated as children's products subject to safety confirmation under the Special Act on Children's Product Safety, due to concerns about containing harmful substances or having designs or texts that are non-educational or emotionally harmful to children, used for the purpose of assisting learning at school or home. This includes crayons, colored pencils, pencil leads, mechanical pencils, mechanical pencil leads, erasers, pastels, paints, chalk, markers, pencil sharpeners, pencil cases, colored paper, notebooks, sketchbooks, glue, musical instruments, etc. Among products that can be considered stationery, those labeled as office supplies or for professional use are excluded from inspection.

As you can see from the above content, most stationery sold at stationery stores are required to meet these safety confirmation standards.

However, items labeled as 'office supplies' or 'for professional use' are excluded from the stationery inspection targets.

If you visit a stationery store, you may have seen stationery labeled as 'office supplies' or 'for professional use'.

These stationery items are clearly marked as not exclusively for children, with the intention of exempting imported stationery from children's product safety confirmation inspections, and you should understand them as products imported with such labeling.

Therefore, if you intend to handle imported stationery, it is practically reasonable to handle them in bulk by item.

Since stationery has a variety of types by category and products change quickly, it is difficult to make a profit compared to the cost of children's product safety confirmation inspections if only a small quantity is handled.

Considering the inspection costs for children's product safety certification, it is advisable to approach the market for the items you handle with bulk handling in mind, so that a profit remains.