The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) released a notification1 on December 1, 2021, to announce that South Korea has begun to accept the application for imported food's fast custom clearance for 2022. Applicants can apply for the fast customs clearance from December 1 to 31, 2021. Once the application is verified, the customs clearance period will be shortened to 24 hours.
1. Who can apply for the Fast Custom Clearance?
The eligible fast custom clearance applicant shall be a registered good importer. The imported foods he/she imported shall be without noncompliance records in the last three years, and have been declared for import more than five times per year on average.
The authority also mentioned that they're modifying the Enforcement Rule of Imported Food Act (draft)2 to lower the application barrier. Once the regulation comes into effect, the qualified applicant is expected to increase by 18%.
Good Importer: To apply for the good importer certificate, a food importer must conduct the sanitation inspection on the foreign food facility in advance. When the foreign food facility meets the sanitation requirements in Standards of Good Importer Registration and Management3, the importer can be authorized as a good importer by MFDS. |
2. How to Apply for the Fast Custom Clearance?
The applicant needs to submit an application letter via MFDS imported food website (https://impfood.mfds.go.kr). The authority will issue a confirmation letter of the food import plan to the applicant when the applicant meets the fast customs clearance standards.
3. Online Application Submission Steps
Log in (로그인) or sign up (회원가임) on the website (impfood.mfds.go.kr) as shown in Picture 1 (①).
Click the tab ② (전자민원) to pop up the selection list for petition application.
Select the button ③ (민원안내 및 신청) to enter the application item selection page as shown in Picture 2.
Click the Item No. 7 (수입식품등의 차년도 계획수입 등록신청) to fill in the application form.
(Picture 1: Homepage)
(Picture 2. Service selection page)
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