Imported Food Inspection 24

Pursuant to Article 20 of the SPECIAL ACT ON IMPORTED FOOD SAFETY CONTROL (수입식품안전관리 특별법, hereinafter “the Act”), a business entity that intends to import (including filing an import declaration by proxy) food, etc. for the purpose of sale or for the purpose of using them for business shall file an import declaration of the relevant imported food, etc. with the regional office of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) which is frequently referred to as “KFDA (Korea Food and Drug Administration)”.

Form 25 attached to the Enforcement Rule of the Act is the declaration form, which is electronically filed through UNIPASS (https://unipass.customs.go.kr/),  the KCS (Korea Customs Service) declaration portal.

In the form, food, etc. is classified into 7 kinds - agricultural and forestry product, fishery product, livestock product, processed food, food additive, apparatus or container/packaging, health functional food. As the specific regulations are different depending on the food type, in the UNIPASS form, it is programmed to block some entry boxes depending on the selected food type. It is a way of preventing input errors along with the instructions inserted right below the relevant entry boxes.

Although the declaration is electronically filed, until now, it is the KFDA official who examines about 140 items of entry, selects the inspection type, and determines whether the declared food, etc. is appropriate or not.

 

On Oct. 11, 2022, a leaflet was posted on the MFDS imported food information portal, guiding that the import declaration of food, etc. would be changed from November with a view to implementing tentatively named “Imported Food Inspection 24”, which is a program to examine  the import declaration documents automatically. According to the leaflet, after going through sufficient virtual and pilot operation, the import declaration of food, etc. which results in documentary inspection after the automatic examination will be accepted automatically so as to realize 24/7 customs clearance.

In order to make the automatic examination possible, some items need to be added to the import declaration of food, etc. On May 4, 2022, the MFDS made the pre-announcement (MFDS Announcement No. 2022-198) to amend the Enforcement Rule of the Act. In the amended Form 25, following information is also required to be input into the import declaration of food, etc.:

·        Product type: Choose one among canned, bottled, retort, powder, liquid, frozen (intake after heating), frozen (intake without heating), selectively sterilized , wholly sterilized, dried, oil-treated, capsule, refined, product that is consumed without further processing, heating and cooking, and none of the above.

·        Manufacturing item report number: Input the number if imported food, etc. is imported as raw materials to acquire foreign currency or as raw materials for manufacturing the importer’s products.  

·        Ingredients

o   Indicate whether the ingredient is the main material of the health functional food additionally. In the case of health functional food, at least one ingredient shall be checked.

o   If a food additive for which usage is limited was used, the mixing ratio shall be input in order to confirm the observance of the limit. If such a food additive is included in a raw material of processed food, input the mixing ratio on the basis of the raw material and indicate the item type of the raw material.

·        Korean labeling: There is one box to input the contents of Korean labeling. The information will be input by inserting lines tagged with relevant data name.

 

Although the amended Enforcement Rule of the Act is not publicly notified yet, it is recommended to review in advance what information shall be additionally input into the import declaration of food, etc.