Republic of Korea: Approval of certifying bodies (2016-10)

​Date of Issue: 23 December 2016

Date of Effect: 1 January 2017

Attention:
Industries - Industry bodies - Dairy Australia
Export Dairy Establishments
Licensed exporters
Department of Agriculture and Water Resources - Central and Regional offices
ATMs and FOMs

Affected Markets: Republic of Korea

Further information: Please contact Exports if you have queries.

The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources provides the following information to clarify the Republic of Korea’s (Korea’s) new approval process for certifying bodies that certify food products for export to Korea.

Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) has issued a new regulation which aims to ensure the reliability of labelling endorsed by certifying bodies on food products imported into Korea. The regulation entitled ‘Regulation for Approving Reliability of Certification Assurance Agency for Labels, Advertisements of Foods and Livestock Products’ enters intoforce on 1 January 2017.

This regulation applies to foods identified in several pieces of Korean legislation (see below) where labelling claims are made in regard to the following:

  • Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP)
  • ISO 220 00
  • Halal
  • Kosher
  • Good manufacturing practice (GMP)
  • Vegan

The department is seeking to clarify whether this requirement applies from the date of shipping.

Food that this regulation applies to

The department understands that this regulation applies to all edible food products (including Category 1, 2 and 3 as defined in Attachment 1).

A list of eligible food products that Australia is permitted to export to Korea is available at Attachment 2.

This advice does not apply to:

  • establishments that are only involved in export of product NOT for human consumption
  • organic claims

Key changes

  • Korea requires certifying bodies attesting to the labelling claims relevant to the regulation to be approved as a ‘reliable agency’.
  • MFDS has not indicated that certifying bodies that are currently approved will continue to be recognised as a ‘reliable agency’.
  • MFDS is currently accepting applications for approval for certifying bodies that wish to be recognised.
    • Certifying bodies wishing to be recognised must complete Form 2 (see Attachment 3) and submit this to MFDS
    • MFDS may conduct an on-site audit of certifying bodies as part of the approval process.
    • The regulation specifies operational standards for certifying bodies under Annex 1 (see Attachment 4).
  • Recognition of a certifying body’s ‘reliability’ to certify to the relevant labels will be reviewed every 3 years from 1 January 2017.

Important note: With the exception of halal certification for red meat and red meat products, gaining recognition by Korea of certifying bodies is the responsibility of commercial parties.

The department encourages exporters to work closely with their importers to ensure Korea’s requirements continue to be met.

The department will provide further information as it becomes available.

The information provided above is current at the time of writing and is intended for use as guidance only and should not be taken as definitive or exhaustive.  The Commonwealth endeavours to keep information current and accurate, however, it may be subject to change without notice.  Exporters are encouraged to verify these details with their importers prior to undertaking production/exports.  The Commonwealth will not accept liability for any loss resulting from reliance on information contained in this notice.

Attachment 1

The Special Act on Imported Food Safety Management provides the following definitions for livestock products (designated and non-designated livestock products):

1. Designated livestock products (Category 1)

The following products derived from livestock species (cattle, horses, donkeys, mules, sheep (including goats), swine, deer, chickens, ducks, turkeys, geese, dogs, rabbits, honeybees and other animals prescribed under presidential decree) are considered designated livestock products;

    1. animals and their carcases;
    2. products taken from animals, such as bones, flesh, skin, eggs, hair, hooves and horns, and their containers and packaging.

2. Non-designated livestock products (Category 2)

These products are derived from livestock; however, are not required to be designated for quarantine. Examples of these products include processed meats (sausages, meat extracts, dried meat, etc.) packaged meat and hams, edible tallow, dairy products (milk, cheese, butter, cream etc.) and processed egg products.

3. Food (Category 3)

This category includes all other processed foods and edible products derived from non-livestock species and/or other agricultural products including grains, fruits, health foods, food additives etc.

Animal species not considered under the Act as livestock and therefore considered to be food include, fish (including crustaceans, shellfish etc.) and Australian native animals (kangaroo, crocodile, emu etc.).

Some edible processed foods derived from livestock species are also included in this category. For example, honey, gelatine, edible deer antler velvet and canned goods containing meat derived from livestock species.

Attachment 2

List of livestock products eligible to be exported to Korea

Designated livestock products

Unofficial translation of designated livestock products allowed for export (list provided by MFDS)
Edible Meat
Products with historical trade to Korea
  • poultry meat
  • beef meat
  • pork meat
  • goat meat
  • sheep meat
  • deer meat
Eggs
  • whole eggs* (not including any processed egg products)

* The department is seeking clarification from MFDS to confirm that Australian eggs sourced from any avian species are eligible for export.

Non-designated livestock products

Unofficial translation of draft list of non-designated livestock products of Australian origin identified to have historical trade to Korea (list provided by MFDS)
Dairy Products
Products with historical trade to Korea Products without trade history
  • processed cheese (‘processed cheese’ includes hard processed cheese, semi-hard processed cheese, combined processed cheese, and soft processed cheese)
  • condensed/concentrated milk (including concentrated milk, sweetened condense milk, sweetened condensed skim milk, processed condensed milk)
  • fermented milk (‘fermented milk’ includes fermented milk, thickened fermented milk, creamy fermented milk, thickened creamy fermented milk, fermented butter milk and fermented milk powder) Note: yoghurt is included in this category
  • butter (including butter, processed butter and butter oil)
  • buttermilk (including butter milk and powdered buttermilk)
  • powdered milk/milk powder (‘powdered milk’ includes whole milk powder, skim milk powder, sweetened milk powder, and mixed-milk powder)
  • ice cream (‘ice cream’ includes ice cream, ice milk, sherbet, low-fat ice cream and non-milk fat ice cream)
  • ice cream powder (‘ice cream powder’ includes ice cream powder, ice milk powder, sherbet powder, non-milk fat ice cream powder)
  • milk (‘milk’ includes milk, fortified milk, restored milk, and lactic acid bacteria-added milk)
  • hydrolyzed milk protein products (including hydrolyzed milk protein, and hydrolyzed milk protein products)
  • lactose
  • whey (‘whey’ includes whey, concentrated whey, whey powder, and whey protein powder)
  • milk cream (‘milk cream’ includes milk cream, processed milk cream, and powdered milk cream)
  • natural cheese (‘natural cheese’ includes hard cheese semi-hard cheese, soft cheese and fresh cheese)
  • low fat milk (‘low fat milk’ includes low fat milk, fortified low fat milk, restored low fat milk, lactic acid bacteria-added low fat milk)
  • infant formula (‘infant formula’ includes powdered infant formula, liquid infant formula, powdered follow-up formula, liquid follow-up formula, other powdered formula, and other liquid formula)

(Natural cheese manufactured with unpasteurized raw milk and processed dairy products can be allowed for export to Korea, only when listed in ‘Appendix 1’ of the Processing Standards and Ingredient Specifications of Livestock Products.
  • non-fat milk (including non-fat milk, restored non-fat milk, fortified non-fat milk, restored fortified non-fat milk and lactic acid bacteria-added non-fat milk)**
  • hydrolyzed lactose milk (including hydrolyzed lactose milk, low-fat hydrolyzed lactose milk and non-fat hydrolyzed milk)
  • processed milks (including processed milk, low-fat processed milk, skimmed processed milk, and milk beverages)**
  • goats milk
  • ice cream mixes (including ice cream mix, ice milk mix, sherbet mix, low-fat ice cream mix, non-milk fat ice cream mix)**
Processed Egg Products
Products with historical trade to Korea Products without trade history
Nil* All processed egg products (e.g. whole egg liquid, liquid yolk, liquid white, whole egg powder, yolk powder, egg white powder, heat-formed egg products, salted egg, and pidan).
Meat Products
Products with historical trade to Korea Products without trade history
  • processed rib products
  • dry stored meat
  • bacons
  • ground meat products
  • sausages (‘sausages’ includes sausage, fermented sausage, and mixed sausage)
  • edible tallow
  • meat extract products (‘meat extract products’ includes simple meat extracted products, meat extracted products and meat extracted and processed products)
  • seasoned meat (‘seasoned meat’ includes seasoned meat, heated seasoned meat, and natural casing)
  • hams (‘ham’ includes ham, raw ham, pressed ham, and mixed pressed ham)

(Processed meat products originated from beef, goat/sheep meat and deer meat are permitted for export to Korea only from countries or regions are allowed to export beef, goat/sheep meat and deer meat to Korea.)

  

As no trade records have been identified for Australian processed egg products exported to Korea, processed egg products are not permitted to be exported to Korea. Exporters are encouraged to contact the department at Exports should there be historical trade in any of these products.

**The department understands that there is history of trade in non-fat milk, processed milk and ice-cream mix products and is currently working with MFDS to ensure these products are approved for export to Korea.

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