G/TBT/10.7/N/127 
 
23 September 2015  
(15-4899)  Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English 
 
  AGREEMENT REACHED BY A MEMBER WI TH ANOTHER COUNTRY OR COUNTRIES 
ON ISSUES RELATED TO TECHNICAL REGULATIONS, STANDARDS 
OR CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES 
NOTIFICATION 
Under Article 10.7 of the Agreement "Whenever a Member has reached an agreement with any 
other country or countries on issues related to technical regulations, standards or conformity 
assessment procedures which may have a significan t effect on trade, at least one Member party 
to the agreement shall notify other Members through the Secretariat of the products to be covered by the agreement and include a brief description of the agreement." The following notification under Article 10.7 has been received. 
 
1. Notifying Member: REPUBLIC OF KOREA  
2. Title of the bilateral or plurilateral Agreement: Organic Equivalence Recognition 
Exchange of Letters  
3. Parties to the Agreement: Republic of Korea, United States of America  
4. Date of entry into force of Agreement: 1 July 2014  
5. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff 
heading): Certified Organic Processed Foods  
6. Subject matter covered by the Agreemen t (technical regulations, standards or 
conformity assessment procedures):  
Republic of Korea's program for certification of organic agricultural products produced 
and handled in accordance with Korea's Act on Promotion of Environmentally-friendly 
Agriculture and Fisheries and Management  and Support for Organic Food and its 
regulations. 
United States Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (OFPA) (7 U.S.C. §§ 6501 et seq.) 
and the United States Department of Agriculture's organic regulations under the National Organic Program (NOP) (7 CFR part 205). G/TBT/10.7/N/127 
 
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  7. Brief description of the Agreement:  
The Korean product must be: 1. A "processed food", as defined by Article 1.2.29 of the 
Korean Food Code, must contain at least 95 percent organic content, and must have its 
final processing within Korea; 2. Certified organic to Korea's Act on Promotion of 
Environmentally-friendly Agriculture and Fisheries, and Management and Support for Organic Food (hereinafter "Korean Organic Food Act") and its regulations; 3. A product 
that contains no ingredients derived from animals produced with the use of antibiotics; 
4. Verified by Korea under the Korean Or ganic Food Act and its regulations to be 
produced and handled without the use of methods and substances prohibited under 
Article 9 of the Enforcement Rules of the Korean Organic Food Act, including prohibited 
pesticides, irradiation, and genetically modified organisms; and 5. Subject to residue testing requirements, including testing for pr ohibited substances and methods, and with 
subsequent regulatory actions, as appropriate, in accordance with Title 7, Part 205 of the 
U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, in the United States. 
The U.S. product must be: 1. A "processed food", as defined by Article 1.2.29 of the 
Korean Food Code, must contain at least 95 percent organic content, and must have its 
final processing within the United States; 2.  Certified organic to U.S. Department of 
Agriculture (USDA), National Organic Program (NOP) regulations; (7 C.F.R. part 205); 3. A product that contains no ingredients derived from apples or pears produced with the 
use of antibiotics; 4. Verified by the Unit ed States' organic regulatory system to be 
produced and handled without the use of methods and substances prohibited under Title 7, Part 205 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, including prohibited pesticides, irradiation, and genetically engineered ingredients and products; and 5. Subject to 
residue testing requirements in accord with Article 23-2 and Article 31 of Korea's Act on 
Promotion of Environment-friendly Agriculture and Fisheries, and Management and Support for Organic Food, including testing for prohibited substances and methods, and 
with subsequent regulatory actions in Korea, as appropriate. 
8. Further information available from: 
Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs(MAFRA) 
Environment-Friendly Agriculture Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) Tel.: +82-44-201-2435 
Fax: +82-44-868-0483 
E-mail: gohwkim@korea.kr  
http://www.mafra.go.kr  
 
 
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