Korea Certified Customs Attorney SJ

The ACT ON LABELING AND ADVERTISING OF FOODS ( 식품 등의 표시ㆍ광고에 관한 법률 ) is the basic regulation prescribing the labeling of foods (all types of foods and beverages excluding the one taken as medicine), food additives (substances used in foods for the purpose of sweetening, coloring, bleaching or antioxidation in the process of manufacturing, processing, cooking or preserving foods), apparatus (machines,   utensils or other goods which come into direct contact with foods or food additives), containers or packages (goods used for packing or wrapping foods or food additives), health functional foods (foods manufactured or processed with functional raw materials or ingredients beneficial to human health), and livestock products (meat, packaged meat, raw milk, edible eggs, processed meat products, processed milk products, and processed egg products).   Article 4 (1) of the Act was changed in August 2021 as follows, which shall come into force as of Jan. 1, 2023. Artic...

In order to apply FTA preferential tariff rates, importers shall prove imported products’ country of origin through a document conforming to the form stipulated in the relevant free trade agreement. If non-conforming certificate of origin (C/O) is presented, Korea Customs may not accept the application of FTA preferential tariff rates.   As Korea Customs checks the documents of imported goods which are selected to be examined or inspected by the Cargo Selectivity system,   the imported goods might be customs cleared with FTA preferential tariff rates applied illegitimately if importers or their contracted customs attorneys failed to find the non-conformance of C/O form. Of course, when such facts are detected by Customs before the end date of the limitation period for assessing customs duties (5 years in normal cases), saved duties shall be collected and penalties shall be imposed. In this case, it is natural that the importer shall bear all the burdens because he/she has ...