On May 3rd, MFDS issued the No.35 [1] and No. 36 [2] Notice implementing new import sanitation requirements for beef exported from the Netherlands and Denmark, which came into force on the same day. Here is the main content.
*Definition: beef exported to South Korea refers to the edible part of the cattle that are less than 30 months of age.
1. Requirements for the exporting countries
The beef exported to South Korea must be from:
1) Cattle born and raised in the Netherlands or Denmark
2) Cattle originally born and raised in countries approved by South Korea that can export beef to South Korea and later exported to the Netherlands and Denmark legally
2. Requirements for the beef
The beef exported to South Korea must pass inspections conducted by government inspectors or assistant inspectors.
Chemical residues, pathogenic microorganism and other substances that may pose a hazard to the public shall comply with relevant standards and rules.
Packaging materials shall be harmless, clean and hygienic.
Information like product name, manufacturer’s name, EST No., manufacturing date and storage temperature shall be labeled legally on the package.
3. Requirements for workplaces
The workplace shall be registered or licensed in exporting countries and shall be supervised and regularly inspected by local governments. Besides, it shall also be registered and approved by passing the onsite inspection or other reviews conducted by the South Korea government.
Permanent Korean inspectors will be designated to slaughterhouses to conduct the inspection and supervise the sanitation there. Local authorities shall carry out more than one regular inspections of the workplace each year.
Staff in workplaces shall prepare documents for food safety management projects like HACCP Plan and implement relevant plans. Monitoring records of these projects shall be recorded in written form and shall be well kept for at least 2 years, calculating from the last record date.
The food safety management project shall include the sanitation management standards starting from the warehousing of raw material to the production and delivery of finished products.
Water used in the processing procedure shall conform to the drinking water standard regulated in exporting countries.
4. Management of pathogenic microorganism
The workplace in exporting countries shall carry out regular monitoring project of the number of salmonella, Enterohemorrhagic E. coli, intestinal flora, and aerobic organism. The records shall be kept for 2 years.
Besides, once the number of the pathogenic microorganism exceeds the EU standards, the sanitation condition of the workplace shall be advanced and the record shall be kept for 2 years.
5. Sanitation certificate for the exportation of beef
Governments in exporting countries shall confirm following items before the exportation of beef and issue the sanitation certificates agreed by the local government and the Korean government to enterprises.
Items regulated in this requirement: Article 2, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 11
Product’s name, package form, the quantity and weight of the package
Registration No. of the workplace, its name and location
Manufacturing or processing date
Number of the container
Others
According to MFDS, the South Korean government will conduct onsite inspection of slaughterhouses and processing facilities in future and enterprises need to submit quarantine and sanitation certificates before exporting meat products to South Korea.
All authorized countries that can export meat products to South Korea can be found in Authorized Countries for the Exportation of Livestock Products (in Korean).
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