FTC plans Korean version of Consumer Reports

 The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) plans to collaborate with consumer rights activists to launch what it describes as the Korean equivalent of Consumer Reports, the iconic American monthly publication that reviews consumer products and services.
The watchdog said the reports could be used to expose companies that have been ripping off consumers by raising the prices of their products faster than the manufacturing cost.
One of the first items to be analyzed will be hiking boots, FTC officials said. The makers of hiking boots and other outdoor products have been enjoying rapid growth in sales in recent years, due to the increase in health-conscious people enjoying the benefits of a five-day work week.
However, these products cost much more than the average tennis shoe and this has consumers wondering whether they are being charged excessively. The sales of hiking boots and other outdoor attire reached 4 trillion won (about $3.6 billion) last year.
In a recent survey, the Seoul's Young Men's Christian Association argued Korean consumers pay over 50 percent more on average for products of major foreign outdoor brands such as North Face and Columbia.
Following the review on hiking boots, the FTC will also release its reports on about 10 products in the first half of the year. Every month, it will make public a report on at least two products through the website.
Experts point out that the key to the success of Korean Consumer Reports lies in enhancing the credibility of the reviews and tests by civic groups.
“If they only focus on price and merely say certain products are overpriced in their review, people will not trust the reports,” an industry insider said. “They should develop a system to come up with more objective reviews and test results.”

Vocabulary expansion:

• collaborate: to work together with somebody in order to produce or achieve something
• activist: a person who works to achieve political or social change, especially as a member of an organization with particular aims
• equivalent: equal in value, amount, meaning, importance, etc.
• watchdog: a person or group of people whose job is to check that companies are not doing anything illegal or ignoring people's rights
• rip off: to cheat somebody, by making them pay too much, by selling them something of poor quality, etc.
• attire: clothes (formal)
• civic: connected with the people who live in a town or city
• objective: not influenced by personal feelings or interpretations