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 ...

  In order to apply a FTA preferential tariff rate, 5 conditions as follows shall be met: 1. Trading party Trading party shall be registered in the country of relevant FTA contracting party. In the case of FTA requiring C/O to be issued by the Government designated authorities, the condition of trading parties rarely becomes an issue. However, it can be a critical issue when C/O is issued by an exporter. If it is issued by a person not registered in the country of relevant FTA contracting party, C/O can be deemed invalid unless such implementation is agreed by the FTA contracting parties in advance like KR-US FTA. 2. Tariff concession item As FTA tariff concession item is listed in the form of HS code and relevant description, it is crucial to classify the exported product correctly. Incorrect tariff classification may lead to apply the application of a preferential FTA tariff rate to a non-concession item, or to apply incorrect preferential FTA tariff rate to an item of different ...

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 th...

 Goods regulated under the SPECIAL ACT ON IMPORTED FOOD SAFETY CONTROL ( 수입식품안전관리 특별법 , hereinafter “the Act”) are foods, food additives, apparatus, and containers and packages as defined under Article 2 of the FOOD SANITATION ACT ( 식품위생법 ), health functional foods under Article 3 of the HEALTH FUNCTIONAL FOODS ACT ( 건강기능식품에 관한 법률 ), and livestock products under Article 2 of the LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS SANITARY CONTROL ACT ( 축산물 위생관리법 ) that are imported into Korea from abroad.   For the purpose of control prior to importation, the Act requires registration of the places where the controlled goods are produced, processed, packaged, stored, etc. The places are classified into two groups – foreign food facility ( 해외제조업소 ) and foreign establishment ( 해외작업장 ). Ø   Foreign food facility: a facility located abroad (including a ship where fishery products are produced or processed) where imported food, etc. (excluding livestock products) is produced, manufactured, processed, tr...

Under the SPECIAL ACT ON IMPORTED FOOD SAFETY CONTROL ( 수입식품안전관리 특별법 ), a business entity that intends to import food for the purpose of sale or for the purpose of using them for business shall file an import declaration of the imported food with the Minister of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS). Customs officials check whether the document has been issued during the import customs clearance of food. In the import declaration of food, not only the basic information about the importer, manufacturer, and shipment but also the ingredients and manufacturing processes shall be specified. If the ingredients don’t conform to the Korean Food Code ( 식품의 기준 및 규격 ), the import declaration of food shall not be accepted. So, it is important to confirm in advance whether all the ingredients are approved ones. Besides, there are food ingredients for which usable parts are also specified. Ingredients which can be used in food are listed in Annex 1 to 3 of the Korean Food Code.     Annex 1 Ing...

Just as in many countries, premarket approval is required for importing medical devices to Korea.   The premarket approval is classified into notification, certification, and approval depending on the class of a medical device and the requirement of clinical test. Outline of the premarket approval process is well explained in the webpage of the competent authority, MFDS (Ministry of Food and Drug Safety):   https://www.mfds.go.kr/mfds/eng/html/sub04/MFDS-DE01-10-26-L0001.jsp Apart from the premarket approval, as prescribed in the CONSOLIDATED PUBLICE NOTICE ( 통합공고 ), a document called “ 표준통관예정보고서 (SCCSR: Standard Customs Clearance Schedule Report)” shall be submitted to the KMDIA (Korea Medical Devices Industry Association) to import medical devices. In relation to the HS Codes where medical devices can be classified, SCCSR is designated to be checked by a customs officer during the import customs clearance under the NOTIFICATION ON DESIGNATION OF GOODS SUBJECT TO VERIFICATIO...