G/TBT/N/KOR/598  
 
2 September 2015  
(15-4423)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
  NOTIFICATION 
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6 
 
1. Notifying Member: REPUBLIC OF KOREA 
If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):  
2. Agency responsible: Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) 
Name and address (including telephon e and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above : 
Environment-Friendly Agriculture Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural 
Affairs (MAFRA) 
Tel.: +82-44-201-2432Fax: +82-44-868-0483 E-mail: lny@korea.kr   
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10 .1 [ ], 5.6.2 [ ], 5.7.1 [ ], other: 
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applic able, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in  addition, where applicable): Environment-friendly 
agricultural and fishery products, processed organic foods and materials for organic farming 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document: 
 Proposed Amendments to the Act on Promotion of Environment-Friendly Agriculture 
and Fisheries, and Management and Support for Organic Foods 
 Proposed Amendments to the enforcemen t rule of the Act on Promotion of 
Environment-friendly Agriculture and Fisheries, and Management and Support for Organic Foods (38 pages, in Korean; 45 pages, in Korean) 
6. Description of content: The main amended contents in this document are as follows:  
A. Proposed Amendments to the Act on Promotion of Environment-friendly Agriculture 
and Fisheries, and Management and Support for Organic Foods  
  Limit application of certification for a longer period of time for habitual violators 
(Article 20.2.1) 
  Strengthen requirement standard for members of accreditation institute, apply 
longer period of time for re-appointment application, strengthen management of 
private certification institute by adopting evaluation and rating system (Article 26.2, New Act) (Article 29) (Article 32.3) 
  Strengthen requirement standard for certification body and adopt refresher 
training system (Article 26 2.4) (Article 26.3, New Act) 
  Establish regulation for recall disposal of unqualified products to strengthen 
standard for post-certification management (Article 31.5) (Article 60.2) 
  Enhance organic agriculture equipment management standard by providing 
supplementary regulations for organic agriculture and fishery equipment (Article 41) (Article 60.2) (Article 53.2, New Act) 
  Establishment of legal system by setting scope of responsibility of greffier in 
charge of certification and public announcement, and other administrative procedures (Article 31.2, 6) (Article 49.2, 6) G/TBT/N/KOR/598 
 
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  B. Proposed Amendments to the enforcemen t rule of the Act on Promotion of 
Environment-Friendly Agriculture and Fisheries, and Management and Support for Organic Foods, etc. under ministry of  agriculture, food and rural affairs 
  New scope of coverage such as institution or organization in accordance with the 
revision of Article 26. 6 (Article 26.2) 
  Improvement of types of approved materials such as organic food and 
improvement of qualifications (Annex 1) 
  Strengthen hygiene management for certified products, new accreditation 
procedure for organic seed, amendment of certification procedure such as strict 
procedure standard for certified work areas (Annex 3) 
  Adjustment of section according to the number of farmhouses for cancellation of 
certification, revision of administrati ve regulation such as punishment for 
violation of the certification standard (Annex 8) 
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable: Protection of human health or safety  
8. Relevant documents: Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) Public 
Notice No. 2015-363 (available in Korean) 
9. Proposed date of adoption: September 2015 or later 
Proposed date of entry into force: September 2015 or later   
10. Final date for comments: Competent authority will receive comments for 60 days after the 
date of notification in order to seek possible way to reflect the comment into enforcing regulations of the Act sometime in the future 
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [ ] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers and email and website addresses, if available, of other body:  
Environment-Friendly Agriculture Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural 
Affairs (MAFRA) Tel.: +82-44-201-2432 
Fax: +82-44-868-0483 
E-mail: lny@korea.kr   
https://members. wto.org/crnattachments/2 015/TBT/KOR/15_3474_00_x.pdf   
https://members. wto.org/crnattachments/2 015/TBT/KOR/15_3474_01_x.pdf