What Changed — From "Certification" to "Business Designation"
Korea's Consumer-Centered Management (CCM) scheme, first introduced in 2007, has a new legal framework. Following the March 2026 amendment to the Framework Act on Consumers, the revised Enforcement Decree passed the Cabinet on September 1 and took effect on September 11.
The key changes are in naming and legal character:
Program name: CCM certification → CCM business designationAudit body: certification audit body → designation audit bodyProof document: certificate → designation confirmationFunction: certification work → designation audit workPut simply, CCM is no longer a certification attached to what a company sells. It now designates the company itself as a business run with consumers at the center.
A Procedural Shift — Paying Audit Fees Upfront
The first change most companies will feel in practice is how fees are paid.
Applicants must pay the audit fee directly to the designation audit body before the audit takes place.The fee amount, along with which businesses (including SMEs) qualify for reductions and by how much, will be set by a Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) notice. Check the notice before you set your annual budget.The power to appoint expert members of the Consumer Policy Committee moves from the Prime Minister to the KFTC Chairperson, which gives regulators more flexibility in running the program.Because the audit can only be scheduled once the fee is paid, plan your budget timing and your preferred audit date together.
What Current CCM Holders Should Check
If your company already holds CCM, review these three points:
Validity and labeling: Check the transitional provisions in the decree's addenda. Then update the CCM mark, marketing copy, website, packaging and any "certified" wording in contracts and bid documents to match the new terminology.Re-designation timing: CCM is re-evaluated when its validity period ends — extended from two years to three years as of 2025. Rework your prepayment and internal preparation schedule around that date.The substance is unchanged: The name is new, but the evaluation still looks at complaint management, consumer redress and how you inform consumers.Why CCM Matters for SMEs
For consumer goods, food, cosmetics, retail and e-commerce companies, how well you handle disputes and recalls largely determines whether consumers trust your brand.It gives you objective proof of customer-management capability when you apply to major retailers or platforms, or bid on consumer-facing public projects.Once the fee-reduction notice takes effect, lower costs should open the door for more SMEs to get designated.Preparing for Designation — Building a System Around the Evaluation Criteria
Leadership and strategy
Put a consumer-centered management policy in writing and have the CEO approve it.Appoint a CCM officer and a responsible team. In a small company, this can be a staff member who holds the role alongside other duties.Operations
Standardize how you collect, classify and resolve customer feedback (VOC).Set resolution deadlines by complaint type (for example, a first response within 24 hours and closure within 7 days), and track any cases that run late.For recurring complaints, analyze the root cause and record the steps you took to prevent them from happening again.Performance
Track metrics such as resolution rate, average resolution time and repeat-complaint rate every month.Keep your redress history and improvement cases organized as data.If you build on ISO 10002 (Customer satisfaction — Guidelines for complaints handling), you can reuse its procedures and record templates, which cuts the documentation work considerably. If you already run ISO 9001, linking the two through its customer-complaint process is even easier.
Application Roadmap and KITIM Support
Check the KFTC fee-reduction notice: Find out whether you qualify and what the audit will cost.Self-assess: Measure where you stand against the evaluation criteria and identify gaps.Build a 3–6 month track record: Run the processes for real so you have metrics and records to show.Apply: Pay the audit fee upfront and submit your documents.KITIM supports you at every step: designing VOC and complaint-handling processes, documenting them alongside ISO 10002 and 9001, and running mock audits before the designation review. Whether you're pursuing CCM designation for the first time or need to update your existing labeling and re-designation schedule, please contact the KITIM consulting team. We'll help you build a preparation timeline and budget that fit your industry and company size.
