Updated |South Korea Amends the Safety Assessment Standard of Genetically Modified Food

For processed products containing safety-ensured genetically modified agricultural or fishery ingredients, corresponding materials are eliminated from safety assessment. Data of repeated oral dose toxicity test is required for the evaluation of GM food safety.

On August 6, the amendments in Safety Assessment Standard of Genetically Modified Food is officially implemented.

On March 11, 2021, South Korea issued the draft of Safety Assessment Standard of Genetically Modified Food ¹ to solicit public opinions. Stakeholders can send suggestions to MFDS prior to May 10, 2021.

The main proposals include:

1. Subjects of the Safety Assessment

At present, though some processed (Genetically Modified) GM products contain safety-ensured genetically modified agricultural or fishery materials, they are still required for the safety assessment. To avoid redundant and unnecessary evaluation processes, South Korea proposed eliminating processed GM food products with safety-ensured genetically modified agricultural or fishery materials from safety assessment.

2. Toxicity Data

Currently, South Korea requires enterprises to submit the single oral dose toxicity test data. However, to evaluate the safety of the genetically modified agricultural or fishery materials, the repeated oral dose toxicity test data is essential. Therefore, MFDS intended to add the repeated oral dose toxicity test data to the applicable scope of the toxicity data.

3. Other Amendments

The result notification letter of the safety of the gene stacked event is newly drafted. The administrative provision about the inappropriate application is modified.