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 are characterized by a wide range of target ages, from adults to children.

When an item becomes primarily used by children, certification requirements under the Special Act on Children's Product Safety arise, so importers who have not handled such items may wonder if there are certification requirements in this regard.

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

[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 phrases that may be non-educational or emotionally harmful to children. 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 used for office or professional purposes and labeled as such are excluded from inspection.

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

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

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

It is understood that these stationery items are clearly not intended for children, and are imported with such labeling to be exempt from children's product safety confirmation inspections.

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

Since stationery has a wide 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 cost of inspections for children's product safety certification, it is advisable to approach the market for the items you handle with bulk handling in mind to ensure profitability.