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Regulators and
regulations: South Korea
In South
Korea domestic production consists mainly of organic rice, fruits and
vegetables which takes place on small farms (typically 2-3ha). Some imported
fresh product is processed in the country into organic products such as baby
food and tofu but most processed organic products and organic feed supplies are imported.
Currently South Korean
regulations on organic foods only cover primary products and enforcement
comes under the responsibility of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries (MIFAFF).
Control of labelling of
organic processed products has come under the responsibility of the Korean
Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) which originally issued a temporary
regulation, mainly to regulate imports.
In an open letter to
organic regulators dated September 27, 2010 MIFAFF announced that they
propose to amalgamate the two certification schemes (EFAPA and FIPA) into
one called EFAFA. Whilst these changes are put in place the current
labelling regulations under the Food Sanitary Act will remain in place until
the end of 2012.
From January 1, 2013
organic producers and exporters who want to export product to Korea must be
certified by a certification body (inside or outside Korea) accredited to
the Korean standards OR must be part of a country to country equivalence
between Korea and the country concerned.
The requirements for
qualification of the certification bodies will be based upon ISO Guide 65. |
