Authorized Government Agency(s):
Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA)
MAFRA's National Agricultural Product Quality Management Service (NAQS) is responsible for setting quality standards and grades for agricultural products, enforcing country of origin marks, GMO labeling requirements, and organic labeling for fresh fruits, vegetables, and grains in the marketplace, accrediting certifiers of non-processed organic produce, and post monitoring of labeling of organic processed food products in the market place. NAQS collects samples from retail markets and tests products for GMO content with RDA-developed testing methods.
Agency(s) Contact Information:
Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA)
94 Dasom2-ro
Government Complex-Sejong
Sejong-si 339-012,
Republic of Korea
Telephone: +82-2-6196-9110
Web
National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service (NAQS)
141 YONGJEONRO GIMCHEONSI GYEONGBUK
Telephone: +82-54-429-4000
Web
Environment-Friendly Agriculture Division of the MAFRA
Telephone: 82-44-201-2432
Fax: 82-44-868-0483
Email: chds@korea.kr or kbb0922@korea.kr
Web
Name(s) of Regulation and/or Standard:
Korean Organic Regulations (KOR)
- Enforcement Regulations and Annexes
- Guidelines on Designation as a Foreign Certification Body
- Enforcement Decree
- Enforcement Regulations and Annexes
- Guidelines for Designating and Operating Certification Agencies
- Certification Inspection by Site and Related Training Sessions
- Operational Guidelines for the Organic Processed Food Certification Program
Date of Implementation: 2011
Regulation and/or Standard Scope:
The new Act on the Management and Support for the Promotion of Eco-Friendly Agriculture/Fisheries and Organic Foods consolidates Korea's organic regulations, and is sometimes referred to as the New Organic Regulations. Certification by a MAFRA-approved certifier is required for fresh produce, livestock, and processed products, unless it is a processed organic product that meets the requirements of the US - Korea equivelence agreement effective July 1, 2014.
The U.S. has an organic equivalence arrangement with Korea for organic processed foods. See also Korea's page on the organic equivalency arrangement.
Korea is now on the European Union’s third country list.
The equivalency arrangements apply ONLY to processed products as defined by the Korean Food Code (Korean Food Code 1.2.29): "Processed food" refers to a food manufactured, processed, and packaged by adding food or food additives to food raw materials (agricultural, forestry, livestock, or marine products), transforming food raw materials (such as grinding or cutting) till their original forms cannot be recognized, or mixing such transformed ones or adding food or food additives to such mixture. However, where, without the use of food additives or other materials, the agricultural, forestry, livestock, or marine products are simply cut, peeled, salted, ripened, or heated (except the cases where heating is performed for sterilization or heating causes significant changes to those products) till their original forms can be recognized or where sanitary risks from treatment processes are not expected and food raw materials are simply treated so as to allow organoleptic identification of food quality, such food products are excluded from the definition of the processed food.”
The equivalency arrangements do NOT provide for equivalency for trade in raw and unprocessed products in accordance with the Korean Food Code. There are no provisions in the agreements covering organic aquaculture. All domestic and imported organic products other than those covered by the equivalency must be certified by a MAFRA-accredited certifying agent.
Critical Variances
US - Korea organic equivalency arrangement covers products which:
- Are certified to the USDA or Korean organic regulations
- Are “processed products” as defined by the Korean Food Code
- Contain at least 95% organic ingredients
- Have their final processing (as defined in the Korean Food Code) occur in the US or Korea
- U.S. products: do not contain apples or pears produced with the use of antibiotics
- Korean products: do not contain livestock products produced with the use of antibiotics
Korean Food Code
Seal Use
Use of equivalent country organic seals and/or the MAFRA Organic Logo is allowed and optional, provided that products meet the USDA/Korean labeling requirements.
Organic agricultural produce complying with the U.S. organic standards or international standards still needs certification from MAFRA's official certification agency to carry a "Korean language organic label" in the Korean market.
Other Import Requirements
Korea’s import tolerances system assesses safety and sets a maximum residue limit (MRL) of a pesticide that remains in food according to the regulations of foreign countries, if the product imposes no threat to human health, in the case an MRL has not been previously established in Korea.
US processed organic products exported to Korea must be accompanied by the NAQS Import Certificate of Organic Processed Foods that includes the statement “Certified in compliance with the terms of the US – Korea Organic Equivalency Arrangement.” Also, a copy of USDA/NOP organic certificate shall be submitted for import inspection in Korea.
Special Act on Imported Food Safety Control (2016)
Foreign facilities, including food facilities, packing houses, grain storage facilities, fishery plants, etc., that handle products inspected by Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) must register and agree to inspection by MFDS. See details at MFDS Imported Food Safety link.