7. Importation Requirements

General Foods
South Korea

This section provides information on the importation process (shipment, customs, licenses required, and test requirements). 

7.1 Shipment Declaration

Not required.

7.2 Customs Procedure

According to attached form No. 25 under Article 27 of the Enforcement Rule of Imported Food Special Management Act [1], the import declaration process is as follows:

• Import declaration for imported food through UNIPASS (https://unipass.customs.go.kr/csp/index.do) → Reception(local FDA)  → Approval → on-site inspection → Sampling → Test → Approval → import declaration confirmation certificate is issued by local FDA if the inspection meets the specification of foods.

7.3 Manufacturing License

According to Article 2 of the Enforcement Rules of the Imported Food Special Management Act, a foreign facility must be registered following this process [1]:

1. Before the exportation of food from the manufacturing country, the foreign manufacturing facility must be registered with MFDS.
2. Foreign facilities producing general foods can be registered with MFDS through the website https://impfood.mfds.go.kr/CFAAA01F04 by the importer.
3. The documents required include:
   1. HACCP certificate or ISO certificate issued by a third-party certification organization.
   2. Statement written in English that the product is produced and packaged in the factory that will be registered. A stamp of the manufacturing company is required on the statement.

7.4 Test for Importation

Inspection items for imported food are the same as the standards and specifications for each food in the Food Code.

7.5 Other Notes or Requirements for Importation

Inspection of imported food is generally required for the first imported food without exception, and if the initial import quantity is more than 100 kg and the food imported thereafter is confirmed to be the same food produced by the same company, food quarantine is required through document inspection for 5 years. This can be done according to Article 14 of the Inspection Guideline for Imported Food [2]. However, it is limited to foods that have not been found to be nonconforming products in a random sample for 5 years and are recognized as safe according to Table 9 under Article 30 of the Enforcement Rule of the Imported Food Special Management Act [1].

7.6 Overview Flowchart for Importation Process

1. Registration of foreign facilities by importer
2. Submission of Import declaration form for food or electronic through UNI-PASS (https://unipass.customs.go.kr/csp/index.do)
3. Reception by local FDA
4. Approval by local FDA
5. On-site confirmation or inspection by local FDA (Sample collection for testing)
6. Sampling by local FDA
7. Test by local FDA or officially recognized Lab (excluding food inspected with document review)
8. Decision on compliance by Lab if the inspection meets the specification of a food category
9. Compliance
10. Issuance of certificate of completion of import declaration for food by local FDA
11. Customs clearance

Import inspection process is described on the home page of MFDS at https://impfood.mfds.go.kr/CFLAA01F01

Import declaration of food can be done using attached form No. 25 under Article 27 of the Enforcement Rule of Imported Food Special Management Act [1]. 

7.7 References

1. Enforcement rule of imported food special management act

https://www.law.go.kr/%EB%B2%95%EB%A0%B9/%EC%88%98%EC%9E%85%EC%8B%9D%ED%92%88%EC%95%88%EC%A0%84%EA%B4%80%EB%A6%AC%ED%8A%B9%EB%B3%84%EB%B2%95%EC%8B%9C%ED%96%89%EA%B7%9C%EC%B9%99

2. Inspection guideline for imported food 

https://www.mfds.go.kr/brd/m_211/down.do?brd_id=data0005&seq=14283&data_tp=A&file_seq=1