. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/KOR/264 
7 November 2007  
 (07-4840) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  REPUBLIC OF KOREA
 
If applicable, name of local government involved:     
2. Agency responsible:  Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item numb er(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Plants and plant products 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable :  All 
countries and regions 
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  The Proposed Draft 
Amendment of Plant Protection Act (available in Korean, 4 pages) 
6. Description of content:  The MAF will revise the Plant Protection Act as follows:  
- A registration system for heat treatment providers for import and export plants is 
established to allow only elig ible entities to conduct th e treatment for wood packaging 
material. 
- For those who transport and store imported plant quarantine items, safety management 
such as keeping the cargo in se aled containers is required.  
- Punitive measures are strengthened against those who violate plant quarantine regulations 
such as importing the quarantine items through th e place which is not the port of entry.   
- Pests which have been recogni zed, as a result of the pest risk analysis, not to cause 
economic damage to domestic plants are excl uded from the list of prohibited pests by 
revising the extent of the prohibited pests. 
- As for wood packaging materials which ar e heat treated in the exporting country and 
marked with heat treatment marks, mandatory import declaration is exempted, and a 
random inspection is conducted. 
- Small amount of plants and plant products imported through courier services  or moving-
cargo are allowed to be destructed by plant quarantine inspectors, in case inspection 
results show that the concerned plants and plant products must be destroyed. 
- Partial economic support is pr ovided for individuals or orga nizations installing facilities 
for quarantine inspection, treatment or destru ction of imported plants  as long as the budget 
allows. 
- The prohibited items imported with special permit are destroyed if the importers do not 
comply with the management require ments under the import permission. G/SPS/N/KOR/264 
Page 2  
 
  7. Objective and rationale:  [   ] food safety, [   ] animal health,  [ X ] plant protection, [  
 ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease,  [   ] protect territory from other damage from pests    
8. International standard, guideline or recommendation:  
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [ X ] International Plant Protection Convention, [   ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:    
9. Relevant documents and language (s) in which th ese are available:   The Proposed Draft 
Amendment of Plant Protection Act (available in Korean, 4 pages) 
10. Proposed date of adoption:  To be determined. 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  The effective date will be  given upon publication of the 
final rule. 
12. Final date for comments:  60 days after the date of notification 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [   ] National notification 
authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, or  address, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body: 
 Agricultural Production and Management Division 
 Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry 
 Republic of Korea 
 Tel:  +(82 2) 500 1777  Fax:  +(82 2) 507 3963  E-mail:  kghun@maf.go.kr 
13. Texts available from:  [   ] National notifica tion authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: 
 Agricultural Production and Management Division 
 Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry 
 Republic of Korea  Tel:  +(82 2) 500 1777  Fax:  +(82 2) 507 3963  E-mail:  kghun@maf.go.kr