U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement: Potential Economy-wide ... - USITC

Below are examples of regulations and requirements that Korea applies in the case of
agricultural goods.
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards (SPS): For live animals, plants, and meat products,
SPS certificates from the exporting country’s inspection authority are required. For example:
• Preapproval of meat facilities is also mandatory. The Korean government banned
imports of beef from the United States in 2003 following an outbreak of BSE.
The market opened partially in 2006 to allow unprocessed boneless beef from
cattle 30 months old or younger.
• Processed foods containing corn must include a letter, statement, or certificate
from the manufacturer or exporter stating the raw corn was free of StarLink
protein. A U.S. producer’s first shipment of unprocessed corn also must be
certified as Bt 10 free by GeneScan; subsequent shipments are tested only when
subject to random inspection. White corn, sweet corn, waxy corn, and popcorn
are exempt from Bt 10 requirements.
Labeling Requirements: Korea has issued regulations that govern food labeling
requirements related to language, country of origin, nutrition, high caffeine content, liquor
content, organic content, and genetically modified content. In addition, producers exporting
to Korea must monitor frequent changes to labeling requirements. Examples of such
regulations include
• General labeling rules: All products under purview of the Korean Food and Drug
Administration (KFDA) must use Korean language labels. Among the 102 meat,
eggs, and dairy products that the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF)
oversees, dairy and sausage products are required to have Korean-language
labels. In general, sticker Korean-language labels suffice, which require
manufacturer labels printed in Korean. Ingredient disclosure requirements were
added in 2006 for livestock, dairy, and egg products.
• Country of origin labeling: Korea requires that all agricultural products be
labeled for country of origin. Specific rules vary by product, but generally
require a label on the smallest packing unit. As of January 2007, both inner and
outer packages of meat and fishery products require country of origin labels;
stickers are not allowed on frozen meat products.
• Korean-language nutrition labels, though optional for most products, must be
based on Korean nutrient reference values. Labels using terms such as “low” and
“non” must conform to nutrient content restrictions.
• Genetically modified food: Korea requires that all genetically modified food for
human consumption be labeled according to the following criteria: (1) processed
foods must be labeled as recombinant if GM maize, potatoes, soybeans, or bean
sprouts are the primary ingredient; if one of five major raw materials is a GM
ingredient; or if recombinant DNA or foreign proteins are present in the final
product; and (2) unprocessed maize, potatoes, soybeans, or bean sprouts must be
labeled as recombinant if they contain biotech-enhanced content of at least
3 percent. Legislation announced in March 2007, however, would expand GMO
labeling requirements to all items approved for human consumption.
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