South Korea Revises Food Sanitation Act Enforcement Decree

On July 3, 2024, South Korea officially promulgated a revised version of the "Enforcement Decree of the Food Sanitation Act" (Prime Minister's Decree No. 1969). The key revisions in this important document aim to further optimize and clarify the regulatory standards for food safety. The main updates are as follows:

1. Regarding the documents required for business registration, the previous requirement to submit detailed manufacturing manuals for the intended food or food additives has been simplified to only requiring the submission of the types of food or food additives to be manufactured and processed. This revision is intended to streamline the process and improve efficiency.

2. For the qualification requirements of foreign applicants applying for business licenses, the previous need to submit documents issued by the relevant government or other authorized agencies of the applicant's country, or an affidavit notarized by a notary public according to the "Notary Act" verified by the diplomatic mission of the Republic of Korea in that country, has been revised. Now, the applicant may need to submit documents issued by the government or other competent authorities of that country, or an affidavit notarized by a notary public, with the Korean diplomatic mission in that country verifying the documents based on the "Act on the Legalization of Foreign Official Documents." If the applicant's country has signed a convention to abolish the requirement for the legalization of foreign official documents, only the submission of a document issued by the authorized issuing authority of the Hague Apostille is required. This revision makes the qualification review for foreign applicants more clear and standardized.

3. Regarding food safety management certification standards for enterprises, the previous regulation that if the inspection and evaluation results based on Article 66(1) of the relevant food safety management certification standards exceed 95% of the full score, the obligation of food safety management certification standards is exempted. This has been revised to only require the inspection results to exceed 90% of the full score to be exempted from the self-quality inspection obligation. This change helps to reduce the burden on enterprises while ensuring the effectiveness of food safety management.

4. For operators of food hygiene education and training shared kitchens who have been closed for the entire year due to the notification issued under Article 8(8) of the "Value-Added Tax Act," the previous regulation that they were not allowed to receive food hygiene education for that year has been revised. Now, as long as these operators meet the qualification standards of the hygiene management supervisor under Article 41(1) of the Act and fulfill the relevant responsibilities, they are deemed to have received the food hygiene training required for the hygiene management supervisor. This adjustment aims to ensure that even operators facing difficulties can continue to receive the necessary food hygiene education.