Korea to Regulate the Import Declaration for Health Functional Foods

On Jan. 28, 2014, MFDS Korea announced the revision of Food Hygiene Law and Regulations on Health Functional Foods. According to the new amendment, overseas food purchasing agents should make import declaration for all imported food and health functional food. This amendment will formally take effect from January 29, 2015.

MFDS indicated that the amount of overseas food imported to Korea through purchasing agency websites has increased sharply recently. In order to strengthen safety management, import declaration is also required for food purchased by agencies through overseas websites. In addition, corresponding administrative penalties for violators have been made to increase compliance and discourage violations.