Korea

In the Republic of Korea, organic agriculture is regulated by the Act on Promotion of Environment-friendly Agriculture and Fisheries and Management and Support for Organic Food etc. The latest version available in English was published in 2015. Since then, the Act has been updated several times. The revised version which is only available in Korean covers e.g. additional provisions and standards for apiculture and pet food, for inspector management, inspection methods and control procedures as well as a revision of organic input certification methods. The legislation requires that organic products are free from residues of pesticides, with a zero tolerance.

The competent authority is the Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA), which is responsible for the implementation of organic legislation as well as for the accreditation of the private certification bodies.

Within MAFRA, the Korean National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service (NAQS) is responsible for the audit of the MAFRA-accredited certification bodies. NAQS also administers the organic import control procedures.

The Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) enforces regulation for general food safety, including the Korean Food Code. Amongst many other things, the Code defines the criteria for designation of products as processed (which is relevant for the question which products are allowed be imported to Korea under organic Equivalence Agreements (EAs)).

There is a voluntary national logo owned by the government. Additionally, imported products can be labelled with logos from other countries according to the conditions laid out in the relevant legislation of these countries, e.g. US, Japan, Australia, EU.

Private standards for the organic sector in Korea do not exist.

The control and certification process is performed by private certification bodies accredited and approved by the Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) and audited by the National Agricultural Products Management Service (NAQS).
The directory of accredited certification bodies is published in the EU Equivalence Agreement (EA).

Organic products can be imported to the Republic of Korea, if they are certified by organic certification bodies approved to operate in Korea. The list of accredited certification bodies is part of the Equivalence Agreement with the European Union.

Equivalence agreements exist between Korea and the USA and between Korea and the EU. The equivalence agreements only cover products that are classified as ‘processed’ according to the Korean Food Code. These products are permitted to be imported to Korea without being certified by an MAFRA-accredited certification body. Organic products from USA and EU that are not classified as ‘processed’, but instead are classified as either ‘agricultural products’ or ‘simple agricultural processed products’ must be certified by a Korean-based organic certification body accredited and approved by MAFRA.

According to the Korean Food Code ‘processed’ essentially means that the food should not be recognisable as in its original form, but that the food is transformed. Typically, multi-ingredient products will be considered to be processed. Some parts of the definition of ‘processed’ are open to interpretation. In these cases, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) clarifies whether or not the product is considered as ‘processed’. To explain how the criteria are applied, the MFDS published a note (“Criteria and standards for processed food – guidelines and definitions”), which is only available in Korean.

The organic import control procedure is administered by the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service (NAQS). Products imported to Korea must be accompanied by the NAQS Import Certificate completed by the certification body of the exporting business.

Further information on organic agriculture in Korea.