South Korea Publishes the Inspection Results of the Foreign Food Facility in 2023

On January 26, 2023, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety published the recent on-sited inspection result of 427 overseas manufacturing facilities in 28 countries¹  that exported food products to South Korea in 2023. In total, 37 facilities were identified with inadequate hygiene management and punished with import suspension.

"Foreign Food Facility (FFF)" refers to the facility located abroad that engages in the food production, manufacturing, processing, packaging, and storage of imported food and other products. As of the end of 2023, over 49,000 facilities were registered as FFF. 

MFDS has been conducting annual on-site inspections of foreign food facilities for many years, which is to ensure the safety of imported food from the production stage. In 2023, the authority selected 427 facilities to inspect after analyzing the records of unsuitable clearance, substandard products, as well as domestic and international hazard information.

The main reasons for deficiency include inadequate control of sealed areas, insufficient ventilation facilities in changing rooms and/or restrooms, inadequate storage lockers in dressing rooms, and inadequate lighting control in work areas. 

Of the 37 facilities found non-compliant, 27 were subject to import suspension. For food products manufactured by these facilities and have been distributed in South Korean markets,  recall and inspection were conducted.

For the rest 10 facilities, South Korea has issued the improvement orders. Besides, the import inspections on the products manufactured by these facilities are strengthened afterward.

These foreign food facilities shall submit evidence of improvement. The authority can lift an import suspension measure if the evidence is deemed inappropriate for inadequate hygiene management. If the enterprises fail to submit improvement evidence, import suspension will continue.

To conclude, the South Korean authority strengthened the on-site inspections of foreign food facilities in 2023, particularly in Asian countries, including the controversial Qingdao beer manufacturing facility in China, to ensure the safety of imported food from the production stage. Foreign enterprises can refer to the above-mentioned deficiency reasons to intensify the food facility control in the future.