[Updated] South Korea Revises the Requirements of Imported Food

*This news is originally published on June 29, 2023 and has been updated on August 30, October 30, December 13, 2023. The revised contents are marked in red. 

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) consulted on the amendments of the Enforcement Decree¹ and Enforcement Rule² of the Special Act on Imported Food Safety Management individually, introducing digital inspection on imported foods and animal-derived foods subject to import sanitation assessment. The consultation period is set to end on July 24, 2024. 

The mainly proposed amendments include the following:

 (1) Specifying the procedure and product scope of digital inspection on imported foods (Proposed in Enforcement Rule²) 

The product scope and procedure of digital inspection for import declarations are stipulated in detail, following the legal basis for converting the documentary inspection to automated digital inspection established in the Imported Food Act³. 

To be specific, the repeatedly imported foods that are subject to documentary inspection are specified to undergo digital inspection. The digital inspection system can automatically inspect the documents and issue a certification of import declaration confirmation if the products comply with Korean laws. Moreover, the authority plans to regularly check the system to ensure it operates properly and avoid errors. 

With this revision, the review of import declaration documents is expected to be realized within 5 minutes anytime without working hour limitations. 

Updateson August 30: 

The provisions related to digital inspection on imported foods are officially included to the Enforcement Rule of Imported Food Act on August 29, 2023. The new version will be effective on September 14, 2023. 

Updateson October 30:

MFDS issued a subordinate regulation related to imported food digital inspection on October 17, 2023, which named theOperation Requirements of Automatic Acceptance System of Import Declaration for Imported Food (수입식품등 수입신고 수리의 자동화 운영 규정). The regulation details the requirements of system operation methods, management of the imported product’s information, and other administrative provisions.

(2) Specifying the scope of animal-derived foods subject to import sanitation assessment (Proposed in Enforcement Decree¹) 

Import sanitation assessment is the mechanism to assess the overall sanitary management status of the exporting country and decides whether to allow importation when the government of the exporting country requests permission to sell livestock products into South Korea.

According to the amendments of Imported Food Act³, the scope of import sanitation assessment is expanded from livestock products to animal-derived foods to enhance the management of imported foods. The authority defines animal-derived foods as foods specified under Article 2 of Food Sanitation Act⁴ (excluding livestock foods) which are processed with animal meat, raw milk, or eggs, including meat-containing processed products, egg-containing processed products, and other meat and egg products.

Whereas, in South Korea, livestock products refer to “edible meat of livestock (13 species, including cattle, pigs, and poultry), raw milk (milk of cows and sheep), edible eggs (eggs of chickens, ducks, and quails), and processed products containing edible meat, raw milk, and eggs” as prescribed in the Livestock Products Sanitation Management Act⁵.

Updateson December 13: 

The provisions related to animal-derived foods import sanitation assessment are officially included to the Enforcement Decree of Imported Food Act on December 13, 2023. The new version will be effective on June 14, 2024. 

(3) Expanding the scope of safety support for exported food products (proposed in Enforcement Decree¹)

The scope of the safety support for exported food products is to be expanded, newly including (a) safety management support for investigating the nonconformity reasons of exported Korean food products to make improvements, and (b) supports for Korean exporters in response to inspection ordered by the foreign governments. By optimizing the scope of safety support, MFDS intends to improve the safety of Korean foods exported to other countries and enhance the competitiveness of Korean foods.

Updateson December 13: 

The provisions related to animal-derived foods import sanitation assessment are officially included to the Enforcement Decree of Imported Food Act on December 13, 2023. The new version will be effective on December 14, 2023.