WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION  
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU COMMERCE  
ORGANIZACIÓN MUNDIAL DEL COMERCIO   
 
IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
10 October 2011 
 (11-4923) 
  
Council for Trade-Related Aspects  of Intellectual Property Rights Original:   English/ 
 anglais/  inglés 
 
 
MAIN DEDICATED INTELLECTUAL PR OPERTY LAWS AND REGULATIONS 
NOTIFIED UNDER ARTICLE 63.2 OF THE AGREEMENT 
 
REPUBLIC OF KOREA 
 
 The present document reproduces the text
1 of the Agricultural Products Quality Control Act  
(related to geographical indications) and of the Enforcement Decree of the Agricultural Products 
Quality Control Act, as notified by the Republic of Korea on 25 October 2010 under Article 63.2 of 
the Agreement (see document IP/N/1/KOR/2). 
 
 
Conseil des aspects des droits de propriété intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce  
 
 
PRINCIPALES LOIS ET RÉGLEMENTATIONS CONSACRÉES À LA 
PROPRIÉTÉ INTELLECTUELLE NOTIFIÉES AU TITRE 
DE L'ARTICLE 63:2 DE L'ACCORD 
 
RÉPUBLIQUE DE CORÉE 
 
 Le présent document contient le texte
1 de la Loi sur la gestion de la qualité des produits de 
l'agriculture (visant les indications géographiques) et  du Décret d'application y relatif, notifiés par la 
République de Corée le 25 octobre 2010 au titre de l'article 63:2 de l'Accord (voir le document 
IP/N/1/KOR/2). 
 
 
Consejo de los Aspectos de los Derechos de Propiedad Intelectual relacionados con el Comercio  
  
PRINCIPALES LEYES Y REGLAMENTOS DEDICADOS A LA PROPIEDAD 
INTELECTUAL NOTIFICADOS EN VIRTUD DEL PÁRRAFO 2 
DEL ARTÍCULO 63 DEL ACUERDO 
 
REPÚBLICA DE COREA 
 
 En el presente documento se reproduce el texto
1 de la Ley de Vigilancia de la Calidad de los 
Productos Agrícolas (relacionada con las indicaciones geográficas) y de su Decreto de aplicación, notificados por la República de Corea el 25 de oc tubre de 2010 de conformida d con el párrafo 2 del 
artículo 63 del Acuerdo (véase el documento IP/N/1/KOR/2). 
                                                      
1 In English only/En anglais seulement./En inglés solamente. IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 3 
 
 
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS QUALITY CONTROL ACT 
 
 
CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS 
 
Article 1 (Purpose)  The purpose of this Act is to secure the safety of  agricultural products and enhance the commercial 
value of agricultural products through the proper quality control of agricultural products and to 
contribute to the increase of farmers' incomes and to the protection of consumers through inducing 
fair and transparent trade. [This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 2 (Definitions)  
The terms used in this Act shall be defined as follows:  
 1. The term "agricultural product" means unpro cessed agricultural products, forest products 
(excluding stone and aggregate; hereinafter the same shall apply), livestock products and others 
determined by Presidential Decree; 
2. The term "producers' organization" means the cooperatives and their federation under Article 2 of 
the Agricultural Cooperatives Act, and the coopera tives and their federation under Article 2 of the 
Forestry Cooperatives Act, and other organizations  determined by Ordinance of the Ministry for 
Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; 3. The term "standards" means the packaging st andards and grading standards for agricultural 
products;  
4. The term "logistics standardization" means standardizing apparatuses, containers, facilities, 
information, etc. which are used in each stage of logistics, such as the transportation, storage, cargo 
work and pack- aging of agricultural products to facilitate interoperability and connection between 
them; 5. The term "good agricultural practice" means pr operly managing agricultural environments, such as 
soil and water and hazardous elements that could pe rsist in agricultural products, such as agricultural 
chemicals, heavy metals, persistent organic pollu tants or noxious organisms in each stage of the 
production, management after harves t (including the storage, cleaning, dry, sorting, cutting, mixing 
and packaging of agricultural products) and distributi on of agricultural products to secure the safety of 
agricultural products and preserve  agricultural environments;  
6. The term "agricultural traceability" means recording and managing agricultural products' 
information in each stage starting from production to sa le so that, when a problem related to the safety 
of agricultural products arises, it is possible to clarify the cause thereof and make necessary measures 
through tracing the relevant agricultural products; 7. The term "geographical indication" means an i ndication displaying that agricultural products or 
processed agricultural products (excluding processed agricultural products in which marine products 
are used as a principal material or main ingredient : hereinafter the same shall apply) the reputation, 
quality and other attributes of whic h are essentially originated from th e geographical characteristics of 
a specific region are produced and processed in the specific region;  
8. The term "homonymic geographical indication" means a geographical indication, the pronunciation 
of which is identical to that of another person's geographical indication for the same item but means a 
different region; 
9. The term "right to geographical indication" mean s an intellectual property right to exclusively use 
geographical indications registered pursuant to  this Act (including homonymic geographical 
indications: hereinafter the same shall apply); 10. The term "place of origin" means the state or region in which an agricultural product is produced 
or collected; IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 4  
  
11. The term "place of origin, etc." means place of origin and kinds of goods; 12. The term "genetically modified agricultural pr oduct" means an agricultural product with intended 
properties obtained by artificially separating and recombining its genes; 13. The term "noxious substance" means a substanc e determined by Ordinance of the Ministry for 
Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, which coul d persist in or contamin ate foods to do harm to 
people's health, such as agricultural chemicals, heavy metals, antibiotics, persistent organic pollutants, 
pathogenic microorganism, mycotoxins and radioactivity. [This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 3 (Establishment of Agricultural Pr oduct Quality Control Deliberation Committee) 
 
(1) The Agricultural Product Quality Control Deliber ation Committee (hereinafter referred to as the 
"Deliberation Committee") shall be established under th e Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and 
Fisheries to deliberate on matters concerning the qua lity control of agricultural products under this 
Act. 
 
(2) The Deliberation Committee shall be comprised of 60 members or less, including one chairperson and one vice chairperson.   (3) The chairperson shall be elect ed by mutual vote, and the chairperson shall appoint the vice 
chairperson among the members. 
 
(4) The persons in each of the following subpar agraphs shall become members: <Amended by Act 
No. 9932, Jan. 18, 2010>  1. Public officials belonging to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the Ministry of 
Knowledge Economy, the Ministry of Health and We lfare, the Ministry of Environment, the Rural 
Development Administration, the Korea Forest Serv ice, the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the 
Korea Food & Drug Administration, and the Korea Fair Trade Commission and nominated by the heads of the organs to which they belong and public officials belonging to the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and nominated by the Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and 
Fisheries; 
2. Officers and employees nominated by the heads of the organizations and institutions in each of the 
following items, to which they belong:  (a) National Agricultural Cooperative Federa tion under the Agricultural Cooperatives Act; 
(b) National Forestry Cooperatives Federati on under the Forestry Cooperatives Act; 
(c) Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corporation unde r the Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corporation 
Act; (d) Korea Food Industry Association under the Food Sanitation Act; (e) Korea Rural Economic Institute under the Act on the Establishment, Operation and Fostering 
of Government-Funded Research Institutions; (f) Korea Food Research Institute under the Act on the Establishment, Operation and Fostering 
of Government-Funded Science and Technology Research Institutions;  
(g) Korea Health Industry Development Institute  under the Korea Health Industry Development 
Institute Act; 3. Persons with abundant prof essional knowledge and experience in the production, processing, 
distribution or consumption of agricultural products who are commissioned by the Minister for Food, 
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; 
4. Persons recommended by non-governmental or ganizations (referring to the non-profit, non-
governmental organizations under Article 2 of the Assistance for Non-Profit, Non-Governmental 
Organizations Act; hereinafter the same shall a pply) and commissioned by the Minister for Food, 
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. 
 IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 5 
 
(5) The term of office of the members under paragraph (4) 3 and 4 shall be three years. 
 (6) The Deliberation Committee shall have a subc ommittee for deliberation on the registration of 
geographical indications, to deliberate on the regist ration of geographical indications of agricultural 
products.  
(7) The Deliberation Committee may have subcommittees determined by Presidential Decree by area 
to efficiently carry out the duties of the Deliberation Committee.  (8) Matters deliberated on by the subcommittee for deliberations on the regi stration of geographical 
indications under paragraph (6) sh all be deemed to have been deliberated on by the Deliberation 
Committee. 
 (9) Matters necessary for the organization, opera tion, etc. of the Deliberation Committee and 
subcommittees, other than those prescribed in para graphs (1) through (8) shall be determined by 
Presidential Decree. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 Article 3-2 (Duties of Agricultural Produc t Quality Control Deliberation Committee)  
 The Deliberation Committee shall deliberate on the ma tters in each of the following subparagraphs:  
 
1. Matters related to standardization;  
2. Matters related to logistics standardization; 3. Matters related to goo d agricultural practices; 
4. Matters related to agricultural traceability; 5. Matters related to deliberations on th e registration of geographical indications; 
6. Matters related to geographi cal indications, indication of pl aces of origin, and indication of 
genetically modified agricultural products; 
7. Matters related to agricultural safety in spections (excluding livestock products);  
8. Matters related to inspections of agricu ltural products (excluding livestock products);  
9. Matters related to the provision of informati on on the safety and quality control of agricultural 
products;  
10. Other matters referred to by the chairpers on for the quality control of agricultural products. 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]   CHAPTER II   STANDARDIZATION OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, ETC. 
 
Article 4 (Standardization) 
 (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry  and Fisheries may deter- mine standards for 
agricultural products to enhance the commercial va lue of agricultural products (excluding livestock 
products; hereafter the same shall apply in this Ar ticle), improve the efficiency of distribution of 
agricultural products and realize fair trade of agricultural products.  
 
(2) Any person who ships agricultural products th at conform to the standards under paragraph (1) 
(hereinafter referred to as "standard product") ma y indicate "standard product" on the surface of the 
packing thereof.  
(3) Matters necessary for the procedures and criteri a for setting standards unde r paragraphs (1) and 
(2), methods of indication, etc. shall be deter- mined by Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. [This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 6  
  
Article 5 (Certification of Good Agricultural Practices)  (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shall determine and publish standards 
for good agricultural practices (hereinafter referred  to as "standards for good agricultural practices") 
and teach them to farmers, etc. 
 
(2)  Any person who produces and manages agricultura l products in accordance with the standards for 
good agricultural practices may obtain certification of good agricultural practices (hereinafter referred 
to as "certification of good agricultural practic es") from a good agricultural practice-certifying 
institution designated pursuant to Article 6 (hereina fter referred to as "certifying institution").  
 
(3) Any person who intends to obtain certificati on of good agricultural practices shall file an 
application for certification of good agricultural practices to a certifyi ng institution: Provided, That no 
person who falls under any of the following subpar agraphs shall apply for certification of good 
agricultural practices: 
 
1. A person for whom one year has not passed since his/her certification of good agricultural practices 
was cancelled; 2. A person for whom one year has not passed since a fine or heavier punishment was made final and 
conclusive in connection with certifi cation of good agricultural practices.  
 
(4) Every certifying institution shall, upon recei ving an application for certification of good 
agricultural practices pursuant to paragraph (3), examine whether the application conforms to the 
standards for good agricultural practices under paragr aph (10) and notify the applicant of the results 
thereof.   
(5) Every certifying institution shall, when it gran ts certification of good agricultural practices 
pursuant to paragraph (4), investigate, verify, et c. whether the person who has obtained certification 
of good agricultural practices observes the standards for good agricultural practices.  (6) Any person who has obtained certification of good agricultural practices may place an indication of certification of good agricultural practices on the packing, containers, invoices, specification on 
transaction, signboards, vehicles, etc. of agricultu ral products that he/she produces and manages in 
accordance with the standards for go od agricultural practices (hereinafter referred to as "agricultural 
product with good agricultural practice certification") during the validity of certification of good agricultural practices under paragraph (7).  
(7) The validity of certification of good agricultural practices shall be one year  from the date on which 
good agricultural practices are certified: Provided, That such validity may apply differently to cases 
where it is necessary to apply a different va lidity due to the characteristics of items. 
 (8) Any person who intends to extend the validity of certification of good agricultural practices shall 
renew the certification of good agricultural practices by undergoing the examination of the certifying 
institution concerned. 
 (9) When changing production schedules, etc. prior to the expiration of the validity of certification of good agricultural practices under paragraph (7), an a pplication for the change of certification of good 
agricultural practices shall be made to th e certifying institution concerned for approval. 
 
(10) Detailed matters necessary for certification of good agricultural practices, such as the criteria, 
procedures, methods, validity, etc. of certification of good agricultural practic es, shall be determined 
by Ordinance of the Ministry for Food,  Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 7 
 
Article 5-2 (Cancellation of Certificati on of Good Agricultural Practices, etc.) 
 (1) Every certifying institution may, when it c onfirms the matters in each of the following 
subparagraphs in the course of c onducting the investigation, verifying, etc. under Article 5 (5) for 
certification of good agricultural practices it has gran ted, cancel the certification of good agricultural 
practices concerned or suspend the certification of  good agricultural practices concerned, by fixing a 
period not longer than three months: Provided, That  it shall cancel certification of good agricultural 
practices in cases falling under subparagraph 1:  1. Where the certification of good agricultural practic es is obtained by false or other unjust methods; 
2. Where the standards for good agricultural practices fail to be observed; 
3. Where producing agricultural products with good agricultural practice certification is deemed 
difficult due to change of business, closing of business, etc.  (2) Every certifying institution shall, when suspe nding or cancelling certification of good agricultural 
practices pursuant to paragraph (1), notify the person who has obtained the certification of good 
agricultural practices and the Minister for Food, Ag riculture, Forestry and Fisheries of such fact 
without delay.  (3) Detailed matters necessary for the criteria, pr ocedures, methods, etc. of the cancellation of 
certification of good agricultural practices, etc. shall be determined by Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 Article 6 (Designation of Good Agricultural  Practice-Certifying Institutions, etc.) 
 (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries may designate persons having 
manpower, facilities, etc. which are necessary for certifying good agricultural practices as certifying 
institutions and have them grant certification of good agricultural practices. In  such cases, foreign 
institutions meeting the standards determined by th e Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and 
Fisheries may be designated as certifying institu tions to certify good agricultural practices for 
agricultural products imported from foreign countries.  
(2) Any person who intends to be designated as a certif ying institution shall file an application to the 
Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisher ies and, when any matter in the application is 
changed after he/she is designated as a certifying in stitution, report the change: Provided, That no 
person shall file an application for whom two year s have not passed since his/her designation of the 
certifying institution was cancelled pursuant to Article 6-2. 
 
(3) The validity of the designation of certifying instit utions under paragraph (1) shall be five years, 
and such designation shall be renewed prior to the e xpiration of the validity in order to continue to 
carry out the business of certificati on of good agricultural practices. 
 (4) Detailed matters necessary for the criteria, pr ocedures, methods, etc. of the designation of 
certifying institutions shall be determined by Or dinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, 
Forestry and Fisheries. [This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 6-2 (Cancellation of Designation of Good Ag ricultural Practice-Certifying Institutions, etc.) 
 
(1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry an d Fisheries may, when a certifying institution falls 
under any of the following subparagraphs, cancel the designation thereof, or order the suspension of 
business, by fixing a period not longer than six mont hs: Provided, That he/she shall cancel designation 
in cases falling under any of s ubparagraphs 1 through 3: 
 IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
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1. Where the certifying institution is designated by false or other unjust methods; 2. Where the certifying institution conducts business of certification of good agricultural practices 
under suspension of business; 3. Where the certifying institution is unable to ca rry out business of certification of good agricultural 
practices because of dissolution or bankruptcy; 
4. Where the certifying institution fails to meet the criteria for designation under Article 6 (4); 
5. Where the certifying institution continues to c onduct business of certification of good agricultural 
practices without reporting the change under Article 6 (2); 6. Where the certifying institution applies the standard s for certification of good agricultural practices 
falsely or makes a mistake in conducting busin ess of certification of good agricultural practices 
intentionally or by gross negligence; 
7. Where the certifying institution has no record of certification of good agricultural practices for one 
year or more without any justifiable reason; 8. Where the certifying institution makes a mistake in conducting business of certification of good 
agricultural practices or is unabl e to conduct business of certification of good agricultural practices 
due to other causes. 
 (2) Detailed criteria for the cancellation of designati on under paragraph (1), etc. shall be determined 
by Ordinance of the Ministry for Food,  Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  
Article 7 (Designation of Good Agricultural Practice Facilities, etc.) 
 (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry a nd Fisheries may designate the facilities that meet 
the standards prescribed by Ordinance of the Minist ry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries 
among the facilities in each of the following subpa ragraphs as good agricultural practice facilities 
(hereinafter referred to as "good agricultural prac tice facility") for the sanitation and safety control of 
harvested agricultural products:  1. Rice processing complexes under Article 22 of the Grain Management Act; 2. Local distribution centers for agricultural a nd fishery products under Article 51 of the Act on 
Distribution and Price Stabilization of Agricultural and Fishery Products; 
3. Others, such as harvested agricultural product managing facilities determined and published by the 
Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.  (2) Any person who intends to be designated as a good agricultural practice facility pursuant to 
paragraph (1) shall file an application to the Mini ster for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries 
with agricultural product items that he/she intends to  manage and, when any matter in the application 
is changed after he/she is d esignated as a good agricultural prac tice facility, report the change: 
Provided, That no person shall file  an application in cases where one year has not passed since his/her 
designation of the good agricultural practice f acility was cancelled pursuant to Article 7-2. 
 (3) Any person who operates a good agricultural prac tice facility shall manage agricultural products 
subject to certification of good agricultural pr actices in accordance with standards for good 
agricultural practices.  (4) The validity of the designation of good agricultu ral practice facilities under paragraph (1) shall be 
five years, on condition that such designation shall be  renewed prior to the expiration of the validity in 
order to continue to put the designation of good agricultural practice facilities in force. 
 (5) Detailed matters necessary for the conditions, procedures, etc. of the designation of good 
agricultural practice facilities shall be determined by  Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, 
Forestry and Fisheries. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 9 
 
 
Article 7-2 (Cancellation of Designation of Good Agricultural Practice Facilities, etc.) 
 (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries may, when a good agricultural practice 
facility falls under any of the following subparagra phs, cancel the designation thereof, or order the 
suspension of business of good agricultural practices for agricultural products subject to certification 
of good agricultural practices, by fixing a period not  longer than six months: Provided, That he/she 
shall cancel designation in cases falling unde r any of subparagraphs 1 through 3: 
 1. Where the good agricultural practice facility is  designated by false or other unjust methods; 
2. Where the good agricultural practice facility c onducts business of good agri cultural practices under 
suspension of business; 
3. The person who operates the good agricultural pr actice facility is unable to conduct business of 
good agricultural practices due to dissolution or bankruptcy; 4. Where the good agricultural practice facility fa ils to meet the standards for designation under 
Article 7 (1); 
5. Where the good agricultural practice facility handles (including simple processing, such as 
washing, packing, storage, trade and sales; here inafter the same shall a pply) agricultural products 
subject to certification of good agricultural practic es without reporting the change under Article 7 (2); 
6. Where the good agricultural practice facility fails  to manage agricultural products subject to 
certification of good agricultural practices or agri cultural products with good agricultural practice 
certification in accordance with standa rds for good agricultural practices; 
7. Where the good agricultural practice facility is unable to carry out business of good agricultural 
practices due to other causes.  (2) Detailed matters concerning the criteria, procedures, etc. for designation under paragraph (1) shall 
be determined by Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 Article 7-3 (Succession to Position, etc.)  (1) In cases where a person entitled to rights or ass uming duties which result from designation falling 
under any of the following subparagraphs passes away or transfers such rights or duties to another 
person or a corporation is merged with another corp oration, the successors and transferees thereof or 
any corporation surviving merger or corporati on established through merger may succeed such 
position:  1. Designation of certifying institutions under Article 6; 
2. Designation of good agricultural practice facilities under Article 7. 
 (2) Any person who intends to succeed a position pur suant to paragraph (1) shall report to each 
institution that granted designation under the conditi ons prescribed by Ordinance of the Ministry for 
Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries within  one month from the date on which the cause of 
succession occurred. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 Article 7-4 (Report and Checking, etc.)  (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry a nd Fisheries may, when he/she deems necessary for 
good agricultural practices, have certifying institution s, persons operating good agricultural practice 
facilities or persons who have obtained certification of good agricultural practices (hereafter referred 
to as "certifying institution, etc." in this Article) report (including reports by using information and 
communications networks under the Act on Promoti on of Information and Communications Network 
Utilization and Information Protection, etc.) matter s concerning their businesses or submit (including 
submission by using information and communicat ions networks under the Act on Promotion of IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
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Information and Communications Network Utilization a nd Information Protection, etc.) data, or have 
relevant public officials enter offices, etc. to check facilities, equipment, etc. or investigate relevant 
account books or documents.  (2) No certifying institution, etc. shall refuse, inte rfere with or evade the reporting, checking, etc. 
under paragraph (1) without any justifiable ground. 
 (3) When conducting the checking or investigation pursuant to paragraph (1), the date and time, 
purpose, object, etc. of checking or investigation sh all be notified to releva nt persons in advance: 
Provided, That the same shall not apply to case s where urgency is required, or achieving the 
objectives thereof is deemed impossible if advance notice is given. 
 (4) Every relevant public official checking or inve stigating pursuant to paragraph (1) shall carry a 
certificate indicating his/her authority and display it to relevant persons and, when entering offices, 
etc., issue a document indicating his/her na me, time and purpose of entrance, etc. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 Article 7-5 (Agricultural Traceability)  (1) Any agricultural product producer, distributor or  seller (excluding distributors and sellers who 
does not change indications or packing) that in tends to operate an agricultural traceability system 
(hereinafter referred to as "traceability") shall be re gistered with the Minist er for Food, Agriculture, 
Forestry and Fisheries: Provided, That those w ho produce, distribute or sell agricultural products 
determined by Presidential Decree shall file for regi stration of traceability with the Minister for Food, 
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.  
(2) Any person who obtained registration pursuan t to paragraph (1) may place an indication of 
traceability on agricultural traceability products under the conditions prescribed by Ordinance of the 
Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries: Provided, That any person who obtained registration pursuant to the proviso to paragra ph (1) shall place an indication of traceability on 
agricultural products concerned.   
(3) Any person who produces, distributes or sells agricultural traceability products shall observe the 
standards determined and published by the Minister  for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries 
(hereinafter referred to as "traceability standards") for keeping records on ware- housing, shipping and 
management necessary for traceability: Provided, That the same shall not apply to peddlers, street 
vendors and those determined by Presidential Decr ee among those who distribute or sell agricultural 
traceability products. 
 (4) Any person who obtained registration pursuant to paragraph (1) shall, when there is change in 
matters determined to be registered by Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and 
Fisheries, report thereon to the Minister for F ood, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries within one 
month from the date on which the cause thereof occurred. 
 
(5) The validity of the registration of traceability un der paragraph (1) shall be three years from the 
date on which registration is obtaine d, and such registration shall be renewed prior to the expiration of 
the validity of the registration in order to  continue to use the traceability system. 
 
(6) The procedures for the registration and renewal of  traceability, matters to be registered, and other 
necessary matters for registration shall be determ ined by Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, 
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. [This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 11 
 
Article 7-6 (Cancellation of Registration of Traceability, etc.) 
 (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry  and Fisheries may, when a person who obtained 
registration pursuant to Article 7-5 falls under any of the following subparagraphs, cancel the 
registration concerned, or order prohibition of placi ng an indication of traceability, by fixing a period 
not longer than six months: Provided, That he/s he shall cancel registration in cases falling under 
subparagraph 1 or 2: 
 1. Where the person is registered by false or other unjust methods; 2. Where the person continues to indicate traceab ility, in violation of the order for prohibition of 
placing an indication of traceability; 
3. Where the person fails to observe the traceability standards. 
 (2) Detailed matters, such as the criteria, procedur es, etc. of the cancellation of registration under 
paragraph (1) shall be determined by Ordinance of  the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and 
Fisheries. 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 Article 7-7 (Submission of Traceability Data, etc.)  (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry a nd Fisheries may request the submission of data on 
the production, warehousing and shipment of agricultural products and others necessary for 
traceability from those who produce, distribute or sell agricultural traceability products under 
Article 7-5 (3).  (2) Any person who produces, distributes or sells  agricultural traceability products shall, when 
requested to submit data pursuant to paragraph (1 ), comply with such request unless he/she has a 
special cause that prevents him/her from doing so. 
 (3) Matters necessary for the scope, method, proc edures, etc. of the submission of data under 
paragraph (1) shall be determined by Ordinance of  the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and 
Fisheries. [This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 
Article 8 (Registration of  Geographical Indications) 
 (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry  and Fisheries shall implement a geographical 
indication registration system to seek the improvement of quality of agricultural products or processed 
agricultural products having geographical characteristics,  to foster regional specialty industries, and to 
protect consumers.  (2) Any person who intends to file for registrati on of a geographical indication under paragraph (1) 
shall submit a registration application form dete rmined by Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, 
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, along with annexed documents to the Minister for Food, 
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheri es. The same shall apply to cases of altering important matters 
determined by Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries among 
registered matters.  (3) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shall, when receiving an application for 
registration pursuant to paragraph (2), have it undergo deliberation of the subcommittee for 
deliberations on the registration of geographical i ndications under Article 3 (6) and unless it falls into 
the grounds of rejecting registration under paragra ph (7), make a determination of publication of 
application for registration of geographical indica tion (hereinafter referred to as "determination of 
publication"). In such cases, the Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shall listen to IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 12  
  
opinions of the Commissioner of the Korean Intell ectual Property Office in advance on whether the 
geographical indication applied conflicts w ith any trademark under the Trademark Act. 
 (4) The Minister for Food, Agricu lture, Forestry and Fisheries shall, when a determination of 
publication is made, publish the details of the dete rmination in an official gazette or Internet 
homepage and submit the application documents for the registration of geographical indication and 
the annexed documents thereof for public reading for two months from the date of publication. 
 (5) When publication under paragraph (4) is made, anyone may raise an objection to the Minister for 
Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries by attaching a document stating the grounds of objection 
and necessary evidence within two months from the date of publication. 
 (6) In cases falling under the following subparagraphs, the Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry 
and Fisheries shall make a determination to regist er geographical indications and notify the applicant 
concerned thereof: 
 
1. Where it is determined through the delibera tion of the subcommittee for deliberations on the 
registration of geographical indications that there is  no justifiable ground to reject registration even 
though an objection is raised pursuant to paragraph (5); 2. Where no objection is raised within the period under paragraph (5).  
(7) When a geographical indication applied for regi stration pursuant to paragraph (2) falls under any 
of the following subparagraphs, the Minister for Food , Agriculture, Forestry a nd Fisheries shall make 
a determination to reject its registration and notify the applicant concerned thereof: 
 1. Where an advance application for registration is filed pursuant to paragra ph (2) or the geographical 
indication is identical or similar to other pers on's geographical indication registered pursuant to 
paragraph (6); 2. Where an advance application is filed pursuant to the Trademark Act or the geographical indication 
is identical or similar to another person's regist ered trademark (including collective marking of 
geographical indication); 3. Where the geographical indication is identical or  similar to another person's trademark (including 
geographical indications) widely known in Korea; 
4. Where the geographical indication is a general term (referring to the name of an agricultural product or processed agricultural product which has become a common noun after long use even 
though it originated from the place where it is produced or sold); 5. Where the geographical indication is in discord with the definitions of the geographical indication 
under subparagraph 7 of Article 2 or homonymic geographical indica tion under subparagraph 8 of the 
same Article; 6. Where the applicant for the registration of a ge ographical indication prohib its persons, who engage 
in the production, manufacture or processing of agricultural products or processed agricultural 
products for which the geographical indication may be used, from affiliating with the organization 
concerned or does not allow them to affiliate with the organization concerned by stipulating difficult 
conditions of affiliation. 
 (8) Matters necessary for qualifications, deliberation,  publication and public reading of applications 
for the registration of geographical indications, pro cedures for raising objections, detailed criteria for 
grounds of rejecting registration, etc. pursuant to  paragraph (1) through (7) (excluding paragraph (2)) 
shall be determined by Presidential Decree. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 13 
 
Article 8-2 (Right to Geographical Indication) 
 (1) Any person who made a geographical indication re gistered pursuant to Article 8 (6) (hereinafter 
referred to as "owner of right to geographical i ndication") shall own rights to geographical indication 
for the items that he/she registered.  
(2) Every right to geographical indication shall, when falling under any of the following 
subparagraphs, be ineffective among the in terested persons in each subparagraph: 
 1. Homonymic geographical indication: Provided, Th at this shall not apply to cases where the users 
undoubtedly believe that the geographical indica tion concerned indicates products from a specific 
area and a relevant product is mistaken to be origin ating from a place which is not its place of origin; 
2. A trademark registered pursuant to the Trademark Act before the application for the registration of 
the geographical indication concerned is submitted or  a trademark the application of which is being 
examined; 3. The name of a seed which has been registered  pursuant to the Seed Industry Act before the 
application for the registration of the geographical indication concerned is s ubmitted or the name of a 
seed the application of which is being examined; 4. A geographical appellation used for items iden tical to agricultural products or processed 
agricultural products for which a geographical indi cation is registered pursuant to Article 8 (6) 
(hereinafter referred to as "geographical indicati on product") and also used for agricultural products 
and processed agricultural products produced in the area for which the geographical indication is 
registered. 
 (3) Every owner of right to geographical i ndication may place geographical indications on 
geographical indication products as prescribed by Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries: Provided, That in cases of the ginseng under the Ginseng Industry Act from 
among geographical indication products, terms in cluding "Goryeo", such as "Goryeo ginseng", 
"Goryeo fresh ginseng", "Goryeo red ginseng", "Goryeo Taegeuk ginseng", or "Goryeo white 
ginseng" may be used on ginseng and its containers, packing, etc. for geographical indications besides 
the methods of indication determined by Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. [This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 
Article 8-3 (Transfer of and Succession to  Right to Geographical Indication) 
 No right to geographical indication shall be transfer red to or succeeded by another person: Provided, 
That in cases falling under any of the following subp aragraphs, rights to geographical indication may 
be transferred or succeeded under approval of th e Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and 
Fisheries:  1. Where an owner of right to geographical indica tion who is registered as a juristic person changes 
the name of the corporation or is  merged with other corporation; 
2. Where an owner of right to geographical indicati on who is registered as an individual person dies. 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 Article 8-4 (Claim for Prohibition of Infringement of Rights, etc.)  (1) Every owner of right to geographical indicati on may claim against persons who infringe or are 
feared to infringe on his/her rights the prohibition or prevention of such infringement. 
 (2) Any act that falls under any of the following su bparagraphs shall be de emed to have infringed 
right to geographical indication:  IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 14  
  
1. The use of an indication identical or similar to a registered geographical indication (in cases of 
homonymic geographical indications, limited to ge ographical indications that, because the users 
undoubtedly believe that the geographical indicati ons indicate products from a specific area, cause the 
users to be confused so that a relevant product is mistaken to be originating from a place which is not 
its place of origin) by a person without a geograph ical indication right for the products, packing, 
containers, advertisements or rele vant documents of items identical or similar to registered items; 
2. Forging or imitating regist ered geographical indications; 
3. Delivering, selling or carrying registered geographical indications  for forgery or imitating purposes; 
4. Others, such as the direct or indirect use of geogr aphical indications for items identical or similar to 
registered geographical indication products for commercial purposes to impair the reputation of 
geographical indications. 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 8-5 (Claim for Compensation, etc.)  
(1) Any owner of right to geographical indication may claim compensation against those who infringe 
upon his/her right to geographical indication intentionally or by mistake. In such cases, those who infringed the right to geographical indication of the owner of right to geographical indication shall, 
with respect to the act of infringement concerned,  be presumed to be aware of the fact that the 
geographical indication has been already registered.  
(2) The provisions of Articles 67 and 70 of the Trademark Act shall apply mutatis mutandis to the 
estimation of the amount of loss under paragraph (1), etc.  [This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 8-6 (Prohibition of False Indications, etc.) 
 
(1) No geographical indication nor any indication similar thereto shall be placed on the packing, 
containers, advertisements and re levant documents of agricultural products or processed agricultural 
products that are not geographical indication products.  (2) Agricultural products or processed agricultura l products that are not geographical indication 
products shall be neither sold by mixing with geogr aphical indication products nor kept or displayed 
by mixing with geographical indication products for sales purposes. [This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 8-7 (Post-Management of Geographical Indication Products) 
 
(1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry a nd Fisheries may order the matters in each of the 
following subparagraphs, etc. to public officials under his/her control for the maintaining of the level 
of quality of geographical indication pr oducts and protection of consumers: 
 1. Examination of the appropriaten ess of geographical indication products; 
2. Inspection of relevant account books or documents  of the owners, occupiers, managers, etc. of 
geographical indication products; 3. Collection of samples of geographical indication products for examination or entrustment of testing 
to specialized testing institutions, etc.  
(2) The provisions of Article 7-4 (2) and (3) shall apply mutatis mutandis to examinations, inspections 
or collections under paragraph (1).  (3) The provisions of Article 7-4 (4) shall appl y mutatis mutandis to relevant public officials 
examining, inspecting or collecting pursuant to paragraph (1). 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 15 
 
 
Article 8-8 (Correction of Indication of  Geographical Indication Products, etc.) 
 When he/she deems that meeting the production sch edule of geographical indication products is 
difficult because the standards for or specifications of an indication of geographical indication products are not satisfied or there is a sharp decrea se in the production of the geographical indication 
products concerned, the Minister for Food, Agricultu re, Forestry and Fisheries may order correction, 
prohibit sales, suspend indication or cancel registration, as prescribed by Presidential Decree. [This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 8-9 (Geographical Indicati on Protection Judgment Committee) 
 
(1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry  and Fisheries shall establish the Geographical 
Indication Protection Judgment Committee (hereinaft er referred to as the "Judgment Committee") to 
supervise trials on the matters in each of the following subparagraphs:  
1. Trials and retrials on the prot ection of geographical indications; 
2. Trials and retrials on the rejection of registra tion of geographical indications, or cancellation of 
registration under Article 8-8; 3. Other matters concerning the protection of geogr aphical indications determined by Presidential 
Decree.  
(2) The Judgment Committee shall be comprised of not more than ten judges (hereinafter referred to 
as "member judges") including one chair-person.  (3) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry an d Fisheries shall appoint the chairperson of the 
Judgment Committee from among the member judges. 
 
(4) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shall comm ission member judges from 
among relevant public officials and those with abundant knowledge and experience in the areas of 
intellectual property rights or prot ection of geographical indications. 
 (5) The organization and operation of the Judgment Committee, term of office of member judges and 
other necessary matters shall be determined by Presidential Decree. 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 8-10 (Adjudgment for Nullity of Pr otection of Geographical Indications) 
 
(1) Any person who has an interest in the protecti on of a geographical indication or the subcommittee 
for deliberations on the registration of geographi cal indications may, when the protection of the 
geographical indication falls under any of the foll owing subparagraphs, appl y for adjudgment for 
nullity:  1. Where the geographical indication concerned is regist ered in spite of the fact that it falls into the 
grounds of rejecting regist ration under Article 8 (7); 
2. Where the protection of a geographical indicati on which is registered pursuant to Article 8 is 
suspended or such geographical indication is not  in use any more in the country of origin. 
 (2) The adjudgment under paragraph (1) may be claimed any time as far as such adjudgment yields 
profits. 
 (3) When a trial decision is made final and conc lusive to the effect that the protection of a 
geographical indication is nullified pur suant to paragraph (1) 1, the prot ection right shall be deemed to 
have not existed from the beginning, and, when a tr ial decision is made final and conclusive to the 
effect that the protection of a geographical indica tion is nullified pursuant to paragraph (1) 2, the IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 16  
  
protection right shall be deemed to have not existe d since the time such geographical indication fell 
under paragraph (1) 2.  (4) The chairperson of the Judgment Committee sha ll, when the adjudgment under paragraph (1) is 
claimed, notify the owner of right to geo- gra phical indication concerned of the purpose thereof. 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 Article 8-11 (Adjudgment for Cancellation of  Protection of Geographical Indications) 
 (1) When a geographical indication falls under any of  the following sub- para graphs, adjudgment for 
the cancellation of such geographi cal indication may be claimed: 
 1. Where after a geographical indication is regist ered, the person who registered the geographical 
indication prohibits the persons engaging in the production, manufacture or processing of agricultural 
products or processed agricultural products for wh ich such geographical indication may be used from 
affiliating with the organization or does not actually allow them to affiliate with the organization by 
stipulating difficult conditions of affiliation, etc. or where such person allo ws persons who are unable 
to use such geographical indication to a ffiliate with the organization concerned; 
2. Where an organization that registered a geogra phical indication or the members thereof cause users 
to misunderstand the quality of products or be c onfused as to geographical locations of origin by 
making mistakes in the use of geographical indications. 
 
(2) The adjudgment for cancellation under paragraph (1) shall not be claimed three years after the date 
on which the fact of falling under the grounds for cancellation disappears.  (3) In cases where adjudgment for cancellation is  claimed pursuant to paragraph (1), the 
disappearance of the fact of falling under the gr ounds for applying for such adjudgment after the 
claim is raised shall have no e ffect on the grounds for cancellation. 
 (4) Anyone may apply for the adjudgment for cancellation under paragraph (1).  (5) When a trial decision is made final and conclu sive to the effect that the registration of a 
geographical indication is to be cancelled, the right  to geographical indication concerned shall become 
extinct thereafter.  (6) The provisions of Article 8-10 (4) shall appl y mutatis mutandis to claims for adjudgment under 
paragraph (1). 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 Article 8-12 (Claims for Adjudgment on  Rejection of Registration, etc.) 
 Any person who is notified of the rejection of registration of a ge ographical indication pursuant to 
Article 8 (7) or any person whose registration is can celled pursuant to Article 8-8 may, if he/she has 
an objection to it, apply for adjudgment within 30 da ys from the date on which he/she is notified of 
the rejection of registration or cancellation of registration. [This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 8-13 (Method of Applying for Adjudgment) 
 
(1) Any person who intends to apply for adjudgment for the nullity of protection of a geographical indication, adjudgment for cancellation, or adjudg ment for the cancellation of registration of a 
geographical indication shall submit an application fo r adjudgment in which the matters in each of the 
following subparagraphs are entered, along with a pplication material to the chairperson of the 
Judgment Committee: IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 17 
 
 
1. The name and address of the person in question (i n cases of a corporation, its names, the name of 
representative and location of business site); 2. When there is an attorney, the name and address  or location of business site of the attorney (in 
cases where the attorney is a corporation, its name, the name of representative and location of 
business site); 
3. Appellation of the geographical indication; 
4. Date of registration of protection of the geographical indication and registration number; 
5. Date on which a decision on the cancellation of regi stration is made final an d conclusive (limited to 
claims for adjudgment for the cancellation of registration); 6. Purposes and grounds of claim. 
 
(2) Any person who intends to apply for adjudgment fo r the rejection of registration of a geographical 
indication shall submit an application for adjudgment  in which the matters in each of the following 
subparagraphs are entered, along with applicati on material to the chairperson of the Judgment 
Committee: 
 
1. The name and address of the person in question (in cases of a corporation, its name, the name of representative and location of business site); 2. When there is an attorney, the name and address  or location of business site of the attorney (in 
cases where the attorney is a corporation, its name, the name of representative and location of 
business site); 
3. Date of application for registration; 
4. Date on which a decision on the rejection of registration is made; 5. Purposes and grounds of claim.  (3) In cases of revising an application for adjudgmen t which is submitted pursuant to paragraphs (1) 
and (2), the purport thereof shall not be cha nged: Provided, That the grounds of claim under 
paragraph (1) 6 and paragra ph (2) 5 may be changed. 
 (4) The chairperson of the Judgment Committee sha ll, when matters concerning an objection against 
the protection of a geographical indication is included in the adjudgment claimed pursuant to 
paragraph (1) or (2), inform the opponents to the objection against the protection of the geographical 
indication of such purposes. 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 8-14 (Adjudgment, etc.)  
(1) The chairperson of the Judgment Committee shall,  when the adjudgment under Article 8-13 (1) or 
(2) is claimed, have adjudgment rendered pursuant to Article 8-16. 
 (2) Every judge member shall adjudicate independently in view of his/her duties. [This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  
Article 8-15 (Designation of Member Judges, etc.) 
 (1) The chairperson of the Judgment Committee sh all designate member judges to constitute the 
collegiate body under Article 8-16 for each case of application for adjudgment and have them 
adjudicate. 
 
(2) The chairperson of the Judgment Committee may,  when anyone who is feared to impair the 
fairness of trial from among the judgment members under paragraph (1), have  other judge member 
adjudicate.  IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 18  
  
(3) The chairperson of the Judgment Committee shal l designate one person out of the member judges 
designated pursuant to paragraph (1) as a chief judge.  (4) The chief judge designated pursuant to paragra ph (3) shall supervise the administrative affairs 
concerning the cases of adjudgment designated to him/her by the chairperson of the Judgment 
Committee. 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 8-16 (Collegiate Trial Body)  
(1) Every adjudgment shall be rendered by a colle giate body comprised of three member judges. 
 (2) The mutual agreements of the collegiate body u nder paragraph (1) shall be made by a majority 
vote.  
(3) No mutual agreement on adjudgme nt shall be open to the public. 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 8-17 (Applications for Retrial)  (1) Any party to a trial may, when he/she has an objection to the trial decision made by the Judgment 
Committee, apply for a retrial. 
 (2) The provisions of Articles 451 and 453 (1) of th e Civil Procedure Act shall apply mutatis mutandis 
to the application for retrial under paragraph (1). [This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 
Article 8-18 (Petition for Dissatisfaction with Trial Decision on Fraudulent Act) 
 (1) In cases where the parties to a trial acted in collusion to have a trial decision rendered for the 
purpose of infringing upon the rights or interests of a th ird party, the third party may apply for a retrial 
against a trial decision final and conclusive. 
 
(2) In cases of applying for a retrial pursuant to para graph (1), the parties to the trial shall be joint 
defendants. [This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  
Article 8-19 (Restrictions on Effects of Geographi cal Indication Protection Right Reinstated by 
Retrial)  In cases falling under any of the following subparagr aphs, no geographical indication protection right 
shall have effect on the acts conducted in good faith befo re the application for retrial is registered after 
the trial decision concerned is  made final and conclusive: 
 
1. Where a nullified geographical indication pr otection right is reinstated by retrial; 
2. Where the establishment of a geographical indica tion protection right is registered in accordance 
with retrial for the registration of protection of th e geographical indication on which a trial decision 
was made to the effect that the application for adjudgment for the rejection of registration is not 
accepted. 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 8-20 (Litigation against Trial Decisions, etc.)  
(1) The Patent Court of Korea shall have juri sdiction over litigation against trial decisions. IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 19 
 
 
(2) Litigation under paragraph (1) shall be brought only by the parties to the litigation, interveners or 
those who applied to intervene in the tria l or retrial concerned but are rejected. 
 (3) Litigation under paragraph (1) shall be brought within 60 days from the date on which a certified 
copy of the trial decision or decision is received. 
 
(4) The period under paragra ph (3) shall be unchangeable. 
 (5) No litigation shall be brought unless it relates to matters for which a trial may be claimed.  
(6) An appeal against a ruling of the Patent Court of Korea may be made to the Supreme Court. 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 8-21 (Application Mutatis Mutandis of Patent Act, etc.) 
 
(1) The provisions of Articles 180 and 184 of the Patent Act and the provisions of Article 459 (1) of 
the Civil Procedure Act shall apply mutatis mutandis to the procedure and application for a retrial on 
the protection of geographical indications.  (2) The provisions of Articles 187, 188 and 189 of  the Patent Act shall apply mutatis mutandis to 
litigation for the protection of geographical indications. 
 
(3) In case of paragraph (2), "Commissioner of the Korean Intellectual Property Office" in the main 
sentence of Article 187 of the Patent Act shall be read as "Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry 
and Fisheries", "president of the Korean Intellectua l Property Tribunal" in Article 188 of the same Act 
as "chairperson of the Geographical Indicat ions Protection Judgment Committee", and 
"Article 186 (1)" in Article 189 (1) of the same Act as "Article 8-20 (1)". 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 9 (Prohibition of False Indications, etc.)  (1) No one shall conduct any act falling unde r any of the following subparagraphs:  
 
1. Placing an indication of standard product or i ndications similar thereto on agricultural products 
which are not standard products; 2. Placing an indication of agricultural product with good agricultural practice certification or 
indications similar thereto on agricultural produc ts (including agricultural products not approved 
pursuant to Article 5 (9)) which are not agricult ural products with good agricultural practice 
certification; 3. Placing any indication of traceability  or indications similar theret o on agricultural products which 
are not agricultural traceability products.  (2) No one shall conduct any act falling unde r any of the following subparagraphs:  
 
1. Selling agricultural products which are not standa rd products by mixing with agricultural products 
carrying an indication of standard product or keep ing or displaying agricultural products which are 
not standard products by mixing with agricultural products carrying an indication of standard product 
for sales purposes; 
2. Selling agricultural products which are not ag ricultural products with good agricultural practice 
certification by mixing with agricultural products ca rrying an indication of agricultural product with 
good agricultural practice certification or keeping or displaying agricultural products which are not 
agricultural products with good agricultural practice certification by mixing with agricultural products 
carrying an indication of agricultural product with good agricultural practice certification for sales 
purposes; IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 20  
  
3. Selling agricultural products which are not ag ricultural traceability products by mixing with 
agricultural products carrying an indication of tr aceability or keeping or displaying agricultural 
products which are not agricultural traceability produc ts by mixing with agricultural products carrying 
an indication of traceability for sales purposes. [This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 
Article 10 (Post-Management of Standard Products, etc.) 
 (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry an d Fisheries may, if necessary, have relevant public 
officials conduct the examination, etc. in each of  the following subparagraphs for maintaining the 
level of quality of standard produc ts, agricultural products with good agricultural practice certification 
and agricultural traceability products (hereafter referr ed to as "indicated products" in this Article and 
Article 11) and protection of consumers:  1. Examination of the standards and quality as indicated in indicated products, appropriateness of 
criteria for certification and registration, etc.; 
2. Inspection of relevant account books or  documents of those who place indications; 
3. Collection of samples of indicated products.  (2) The provisions of Article 7-4 (2) and (3) shall apply mutatis mutandis to examinations, inspections 
or collections under paragraph (1). 
 
(3) The provisions of Article 7-4 (4) shall appl y mutatis mutandis to relevant public officials 
examining, inspecting or collecting pursuant to paragraph (1). [This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  
Article 11 (Correction of Indicati ons of Standard Products, etc.) 
 The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fi sheries may, when an indicated product fails to 
meet the indicated standards concerned or pro ducing the indicated product concerned is deemed 
difficult or when an indicated product contravenes the method of indication, order correction, prohibit sales, suspend indication, or cancel certification a nd registration, as prescribed by Presidential Decree. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 Article 12 (Safety Control Plans, etc.)  (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry an d Fisheries shall formulate and implement a safety 
control plan to improve the quality of agricultura l products (excluding livest ock products; hereafter 
the same shall apply in this Chapter) and to produ ce and supply safe agricultural products (hereinafter 
referred to as "safety control plan") each year.  (2) Special Metropolitan City Mayors, Metropolitan City Mayors, Do Governors, Governors of Special Self-Governing Provinces (hereinafter referre d to as "Mayor/Do Governor") and the heads of 
Sis/Guns/Gus (referring to the heads of autonomous Gus; hereinafter the same shall apply) shall 
formulate and implement detailed action plans to secure the safety of agricultural products produced 
and distributed in the areas under their jurisdiction (hereafter referred to as "detailed action plan" in 
this Chapter).  
(3) The safety control plan and detailed action plan s shall include the agricultural products safety 
inspection under Article 12-2, risk assessment and examination of persiste nce under Article 14-6, 
education of farmers and other matters determined by Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, 
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.  IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 21 
 
(4) The Minister for Food, Agricu lture, Forestry and Fisheries may have Mayors/Do Governors and 
the heads of Sis/Guns/Gus report detailed action plan s and the results of the implementation thereof. 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 12-2 (Safety Inspections)  
(1) With respect to noxious substances which may pers ist or be included in ag ricultural products or 
farmland, water, materials, etc. which are used  for the production of agricultural products, the 
Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisher ies or every Mayor/Do Governor shall conduct an 
inspection in each of the following subparagraphs (h ereinafter referred to as "safety inspection") for 
the safety control of agricultural products: 
 
1. In the production stage, whether the safety standa rds determined by Ordinance of the Ministry for 
Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries are complied with; 2. In the distribution and sales stages, whether th e persistent noxious substa nces under relevant Acts 
and subordinate statutes, such as the Food Sanita tion Act exceed permissible levels concerned. 
 
(2) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shall, when determining the safety 
standards for the production stage under paragraph (1 ), consult with the heads of relevant central 
governmental administrative organs.  (3) Detailed matters necessary for the procedure fo r safety inspections, etc. shall be determined by 
Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 13 (Collection of Samples, etc.)  
(1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries or every Mayor/Do Governor may, 
when necessary for a safety insp ection, risk assessment and examination of persistence under 
Article 14-6 (1) and (3), etc., ha ve relevant public officials conduct the collection of samples, 
examination, etc. in each of the following subpara graphs and investigate on them. In such cases, 
he/she may, if necessary, have samp les collected without compensation: 
 
1. Collection and examination of samples of agricultu ral products, and soil, water, materials, etc. 
which are used for the production of the agricultural products; 2. Inspection of relevant account books or documents  of those who produce, keep, transport and sell 
agricultural products concerned.  
(2) The provisions of Article 7-4 (2) and (3) shall apply mutatis mutandis to the collection of samples 
and examination under paragraph (1).  (3) The provisions of Article 7-4 (4) shall apply mutatis mutandis to relevant public officials who 
collect, examine or inspect pursuant to paragraph (1). [This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 
Article 14 (Measures according to Results of Safety Inspections)   (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries or every Mayor/Do Governor may, 
when the safety standards for the production stage ar e found to be violated as a result of conducting a 
safety inspection for agricultural products in the production process, or farmland, water, materials, 
etc. which are used for the production of the agri cultural products, have the producers or owners of 
such agricultural products take the measur es in each of the following subparagraphs: 
 1. Disposal, diversion of use, postponement of ship ment, etc. of the concerned agricultural products; IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 22  
  
2. Improvement of farmland, water, materials, etc.  used for the production of the agricultural products 
concerned or prohibition of the use thereof; 3. Other measures determined by Ordinance of th e Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and 
Fisheries.  
(2) The Minister for Food, Agricu lture, Forestry and Fisheries or every Mayor/Do Governor shall, 
when the fact that the permissible levels of persistent noxious substan ces under the Food Sanitation 
Act are violated is confirmed as a result of conduc ting a safety inspection of agricultural products in 
the distribution or sales process, inform the concer ned governmental administrative organs of such 
fact so that they may take appropriate measures. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 Article 14-2 (Designation of Safety Inspection Institutions)  (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shall designate safety inspection 
institutions to conduct part of safety inspection a nd the business of testing and analysis professionally 
and efficiently and have them conduct safety inspec tions and the business of testing and analysis on 
his/her behalf.  (2) Any person who intends to be designated as a safety inspection institution pursuant to 
paragraph (1) shall file an application to the Mini ster for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries 
after equipped with facilities and manpower which are necessary for safety inspections, testing and 
analysis: Provided, That no person for whom three years have not passed since the designation of the 
safety inspection institution was cancelled pursuant to paragraph (2) shall apply for designation of a 
safety inspection institution.  
(3) Matters necessary for the criteria and procedur es for designation of safety inspection institutions 
under paragraph (1), scope of businesses, etc. shall be determined by Ordinance of the Ministry for 
Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. [This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 14-3 (Cancellation of Designation of  Safety Inspection Institutions etc.) 
 
(1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries may, when the safety inspection 
institutions under Article 14-2 (1 ) fall under any of the following subparagraphs, cancel designation 
thereof, or order the suspension of business, by fi xing a period not longer than six months: Provided, 
That he/she shall cancel designation in cases falling under subparagraphs 1 and 2: 
 
1. Where the safety inspection institution is designated by false or other unjust methods; 
2. Where the safety inspection institution continu es to conduct safety inspections and the business of 
testing and analysis, in violation of an  order for the suspension of business; 
3. Where the safety inspection institution issues false written results of inspection; 
4. Other cases, such as the case wher e the safety inspection institution violates regulations for safety 
inspection, which are determined by Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Ag riculture, Forestry and 
Fisheries.  (2) Detailed criteria for the administrative dispositio ns under paragraph (1) shall be determined by 
Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
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Article 14-4 (Education on Agricultural Products Safety, etc.) 
 (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries or every Mayor/Do Governor shall 
teach and publicize matters necessary for the produ ction of safety agricultural products and sound 
consumption activities to producers, persons engagi ng in distribution, consumers, relevant public 
officials, etc. 
 
(2) The Minister for Food, Agricu lture, Forestry and Fisheries may entrust the education and public 
relations for producers, persons engaging in dist ribution and consumers to the organizations and 
institutions under Article 3 (4) 2 and non-governmental organizati ons under subparagraph 4 of the 
same paragraph. In such cases, he/she may provide subsidies to cover the expenses for the education 
and public relations w ithin budgetary limits. 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 14-5 (Research and Development of  Analyzing Methods and Dissemination) 
 
The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries or every Mayor/Do Governor shall devise 
measures for the research and development, and di ssemination of technologies, including methods to 
analyze safety for the enhancement of safety cont rol of agricultural prod ucts and fast safety 
inspections of noxious substances known to be  contained in agricultural products produced 
domestically and in foreign countries. [This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 
Article 14-6 (Risk Assessment of  Agricultural Products, etc.) 
 (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries may request the food safety-related 
institutions in each of the following subparagraphs to assess the risks of agricultural products, or 
noxious substances that persist in the farmland, wa ter, materials, etc. which are used for the 
production of the agricultural products for the effi cient safety control of agricultural products: 
 1. Rural Development Administration; 2. Korea Forest Service; 3. Korea Food & Drug Administration; 
4. Korea Food Research Institute under the Act on  the Establishment, Operation and Fostering of 
Government-Funded Science and T echnology Research Institutions; 
5. Korea Health Industry Development Institute  under the Korea Health Industry Development 
Institute Act; 6. Research institutes in universities; 
7. Other research institutions that the Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries deems 
necessary.  (2) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shall announce the request for risk 
assessment under paragraph (1) and the results thereof.  
(3) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries may examine the actual state of 
noxious substances persisting in agricultural product s (hereinafter referred to as "examination of 
persistence") for the scientific safety control of agricultural products. 
 (4) Matters concerning the announcement of requests for risk assessment and the results thereof under 
paragraph (2) shall be determined by Presiden tial Decree and detailed matters concerning the 
examination of persistence, such as the method, procedure, etc. of th e examination of persistence shall 
be determined by Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
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CHAPTER III   INDICATION OF PLACES OF ORIGIN, ETC. 
 Article 15 (Indication of Places of Origin)  (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shall, when determined by Presidential 
Decree as necessary for the establishment of a sound di stribution order for agricultural products, have 
those who sell or process agricultural products or processed agricultural products indicate the places 
of origin thereof. <Amended by Act No. 6191, Jan. 21, 2000; Act No. 6399, Jan. 29, 2001; Act No. 8852, Feb. 29, 2008>  
(2) Any person who sells or processes an agricu ltural product or processed agricultural products 
prescribed to indicate the place of origin pursuant to  paragraph (1) shall indicate the places of origin 
of such agricultural product and raw materials of  such processed agricultural products. <Amended by 
Act No. 6399, Jan. 29, 2001>  
(3) Necessary matters for items subject to indicatio n of place of origin pursuant to paragraph (1), 
method of indicating places of origin, criteria for determining places of origin, etc. shall be determined by Presidential Decree.  Article 15-2 (Indication of Places of Origin, etc. in Food Service Businesses and Institutional Food 
Service Facilities) 
 
(1) Any person who intends to install and operate  a business and institutional food service facility 
determined by Presidential Decree from among the food service businesses under Article 36 (1) 3 of the Food Sanitation Act and the institutional food ser vice facilities under Article 88 of the same Act 
shall, when selling and supplying (including the cas es of keeping and displaying for the purposes of 
sales or supply after cooking; herein- after the sa me shall apply) the livestock products under 
subparagraph 2 of Article 2 of the Processing of Li vestock Products Act (hereinafter referred to as 
"livestock product") after cooking them, indicate the places of origin, etc. thereof for the establishment of a fair trade order and protection of producers and consumers. <Amended by Act No. 9432, Feb. 6, 2009>  
(2) Any person who conducts a business determ ined by Presidential Decree from among the food 
service businesses under Article 36 (1) 3 of the Food Sanitation Act in a business site 100 ㎡ or more 
in size (referring to the size entered in the busin ess report) shall, when selling rice and gimchi falling 
under any of the following subparagraphs after cooking them, indicate the places of origin thereof for 
the establishment of a fair trade order and protec tion of producers and consumers: <Amended by Act 
No. 9432, Feb. 6, 2009> 
 1. Rice:  Cooked and sold in original form a nd determined by Presidential Decree; 
2. Gimchi:  
Made of Chinese cabbages and determined by Presidential Decree. 
 (3) The livestock products subject to an indication of places of origin under paragraph (1) shall be 
determined by Presidential Decree, and the method of indicating the places of origin, etc. under paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be determined by Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, 
Forestry and Fisheries. 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9117, Jun. 13, 2008] 
 IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
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Article 15-3 (Indication of Places of Origin for Mail Orders) 
 (1) Any person who sells agricultural products and processed agricultural products by means of the 
mail orders under subparagraph 2 of Article 2 of the Act on the Consumer Protection in the Electronic 
Commerce Transactions, etc. (including the cases of selling by means of electronic commerce transactions under subparagraph 1 of Article 2 of the same Act; hereinafter the same shall apply) shall 
indicate the places of origin in a way that consumer s may readily notice them from the initial stage of 
mail ordering for the establishment of a fair trade order and protection of producers and consumers. 
 (2) Matters necessary for subjects, methods, etc. of indication under paragraph (1) shall be determined 
by Presidential Decree. 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9667, May 8, 2009] 
 Article 16 (Indication of Genetically Modified Agricultural Product)   (1) The Minister for Food, Agricultu re, Forestry and Fisheries shall,  when prescribed by Presidential 
Decree as necessary to provide the consumers with correct purchase information, have those who sell 
genetically modified agricultural products place an  indication of genetically modified agricultural 
product on the genetically modified agricultural pr oducts they sell. <Amended by Act No. 6191, 
Jan. 21, 2000; Act No. 6399, Jan. 29, 2001; Act No. 8852, Feb. 29, 2008>   (2) Any person who sells agricultura l products required to carry an indication of genetically modified 
agricultural product pursuant to paragraph (1) sha ll place an indication of genetically modified 
agricultural product on the agricultural products  concerned. <Amended by Act No. 6399, 
Jan. 29, 2001>  (3) Matters necessary for items subject to an indi cation of genetically modified agricultural product 
under paragraph (1), and criteria, method, etc. of  indication shall be determined by Presidential 
Decree. <Amended by Act No. 6399, Jan. 29, 2001>  Article 17 (Prohibition of False Indications, etc.)  (1) A person who sells or processes agricultural prod ucts or processed agricultural products required 
to carry an indication of place of origin pursuant to  Articles 15 (1) and 16 (1) or who sells agricultural 
products required to carry an indication of genetica lly modified agricultural product shall not conduct 
the acts in any of the following subparagraphs : <Amended by Act No. 6399, Jan. 29, 2001> 
 1. Placing a false indication of place of origin or genetically modified agricultural product, or placing 
indications that are feared to cause people to be confused as to the places of origin or genetically 
modified agricultural products; 2. Impairing or altering the indications of place of origin or geneti cally modified agricultural product 
for the purpose of causing people to be confused as to the places of origin or genetically modified 
agricultural products; 3. Selling by disguising the places of origin, or se lling agricultural products or processed agricultural 
products that carry an indication of place of orig in by mixing with other agricultural products or 
processed agricultural products, or keeping or displaying agricultural products or processed 
agricultural products that carry an indication of place of origin by mixing them with other agricultural 
products or processed agricultural products for sales purposes; 4. Selling agricultural products carrying an indicati on of genetically modified agricultural product by 
mixing with other agricultural products, or keeping or displaying agricultural products carrying an 
indication of genetically modified agricultural produ ct by mixing them other agricultural products for 
sales purpose.  (2) Persons who sell or supply the livestock product s under Article 15- 2 (1) after cooking them or 
persons who sell the rice and gimc hi under paragraph (2) of the same  Article after cooking them shall IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 26  
  
not conduct any acts in any of the following s ubparagraphs: <Newly Inserted by Act No. 9117, 
Jun. 13, 2008>  1. Placing a false indication of the places of origin, etc. or placing indications that are feared to cause people to be confused as to the places of origin, etc.; 
2. Cooking, selling or supplying with disguised places of origin, etc., or keeping and displaying 
livestock products, rice and gimchi with impaired or a ltered indications of place of origin, etc. for the 
purpose of selling and supplying them after cooking; 3. Cooking, selling and supplying livestock products, rice and gimchi which carry an indication of 
place of origin, etc. by mixing them with other livestock products, rice and gimchi. 
 
(3) No person who sells agricultural products or processed agricultural products by means of mail 
ordering pursuant to Article 15-3 (1) shall falsely indi cate the places of origin or place indications that 
are feared to cause people to be confused as to an  indication of place of origin. <Newly Inserted by 
Act No. 9667, May 8, 2009>  
 
Article 18 (Inspection of Indications of Places of Origin, etc.)  (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries or every Mayor/Do Governor shall, in 
order to confirm the indication or non- indication of place of origin, etc. under Articles 15, 15-2 (1) 
and (2) and 15-3 and appropriateness of matters to be indicated, methods of indication, etc., have 
relevant public officials regularly collect or ex amine agricultural products or processed agricultural 
products subject to an indication of place of origin , livestock products, rice and gimchi, as prescribed 
by Presidential Decree: Provided, That he/she may, when necessary, such  as the time when the 
distribution quantity of agricultural products increases  considerably, have them collect or examine as 
occasion arises. <Amended by Act No. 6595, Jan . 14, 2002; Act No. 8852, Feb. 29, 2008; Act 
No. 9117, Jun. 13, 2008; Act No. 9667, May 8, 2009> 
 (2) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shall, in order to confirm the indication 
or non-indication of genetically modified agricu ltural product under Article 16 and appropriateness of 
matters to be indicated, methods of indication, etc., have relevant public officials regularly collect or 
examine agricultural products subject to an indica tion of genetically modified agricultural product, as 
prescribed by Presidential Decree: Provided, That he /she may when necessary, such as when the 
distribution quantity of agricultural products increases  considerably, have them collect or examine as 
occasion arises. <Newly Inserted by Act No. 6595, Jan. 14, 2002; Act No. 8852, Feb. 29, 2008> 
 (3) No person who sells or processes agricultural pr oducts or processed agricu ltural products subject 
to an indication of place of origin or sells or supp lies livestock products, rice and gimchi after cooking 
them or sells genetically modified agricultural products shall refuse, interfere with or evade a 
collection or examination under paragraph (1) or (2) without any justifiable ground. <Amended by 
Act No. 6399, Jan. 29, 2001; Act No. 6595, Jan. 14, 2002; Act No. 9117, Jun. 13, 2008>  (4)Every relevant public official that collect s or examines agricultural products or processed 
agricultural products subject to an indication of pl ace of origin, livestock products, rice, gimchi, or 
agricultural products subject to an indication of gene tically modified agricultural product, pursuant to 
paragraph (1) or (2), shall present a certificate that indicates his/her authority to  relevant persons and, 
when entering offices, etc., deliver a document indi cating his/her name, time and purpose of entering, 
etc. to relevant persons. <Amended by Act No. 6399 , Jan. 29, 2001; Act No. 6595, Jan. 14, 2002; Act 
No 8103, Dec. 28, 2006; Act No. 9117, Jun. 13, 2008> 
 Article 18-2 (Dispositions against Violations  of Indication of Place of Origin, etc.) 
 (1) The Minister for Food, Agri culture, Forestry and Fisheries or every Mayor/Do Governor may 
impose a disposition falling under any of the following subparagraphs on those who violate the IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 27 
 
provisions of Articles 15, 15-2, 15-3, 16 and 17 : Provided, That only a disposition under sub- 
paragraph 1 may be imposed on those who violat e the provisions of Article 15-2 (1) or (2): 
<Amended by Act No. 8852, Feb. 29, 2008; Act No. 9117, Jun. 13, 2008; Act No. 9667, 
May 8, 2009>  1. An order for correction, such as placing, changing, or deleting indications; 
2. Prohibition of transactions, such as sales of ille gal agricultural products or processed agricultural 
products.  (2) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries or every Mayor/Do Governor may, 
when he/she imposes a disposition under paragr aph (1) on those who violate the provisions of 
Article 17, order the persons imposed such dispositions  to announce the fact th at they are subject to 
such dispositions. <Amended by Act No. 8852, Feb. 29, 2008>  (3) With respect to the persons in each of the following subparagraphs fo r whom the dispositions 
under paragraph (1) are made final and conclusive by  reason of falsely indicating the places of origin, 
etc. of agricultural products, processed agricultu ral products, genetically modified agricultural 
products, etc., in violation of Article 17, the Minist er for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries or 
every Mayor/Do Governor shall announce matters relate d to the dispositions, such as the details of the 
dispositions and names of concerned business esta blishments, agricultural products, etc. in the 
Internet homepage of the Ministry for Food, Agri culture, Forestry and Fisheries or the relevant 
Cities/Dos, as prescribed by Presidential Decree: <Newly Inserted by Act No. 9667, May 8, 2009> 
 
1. A person who sells or processes agricultural prod ucts or processed agricultural products required to 
carry an indication of place of orig in pursuant to Article 15 (1); 
2. A person who sells and supplies the livestock products under Article 15- 2 (1) after cooking them; 
3. A person who sells the rice and gimchi under Article 15-2 (2) after cooking them; 
4. A person who sells agricultural products or processed agricultural products by means of mail 
ordering pursuant to Article 15-3 (1); 5. A person who sells agricultural products required to carry an i ndication of genetically modified 
agricultural product pursuant to Article 16 (1).  (4) Matters necessary for dispositions under paragraph (1), order for announcement under 
paragraph (2), and criteria, method, etc. of an nouncement in Internet homepage under paragraph (3) 
shall be determined by Presidential Decr ee. <Amended by Act No. 9667, May 8, 2009> 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 7675, Aug. 4, 2005]  Article 18-3 (Request for Administrative Restrictions, etc.) 
 
(1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries or every Mayor/Do Governor may, 
when a person who made a business report or made a report on the installation and operation of an 
institutional food service facility pursuant to the F ood Sanitation Act fails to indicate the places of 
origin, etc., in violation of Article 15-2 (1) and (2),  or violates the provisions of Article 17 (2), request 
the heads of relevant governmental administrativ e organs to take necessary measures for the 
establishment of a distribution order for agricultura l products, such as the closedown of the concerned 
business establishment or institutional food service fac ility or suspension of business or operation of 
the concerned institutional food service facility, by fixing a period: Provided, That in cases of institutional food service facilities that are public f acilities, he/she may request the heads of the 
relevant governmental administrative organs having jurisdiction over the concerned institutional food 
service facilities to take necessary measures as well. 
 (2) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry an d Fisheries may, when an y of the following cases 
occurs, request the heads of relevant governmental  administrative organs to take measures necessary 
for the establishment of a distribution orders for ag ricultural products, such as suspension of business: 
<Newly Inserted by Act No. 9667, May 8, 2009> IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
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 1. Where a place of origin is not indicat ed, in violation of Article 15-3 (1); 
2. Where a place of origin is falsely indicated, or where indications that are likely to cause people to 
be confused are placed, in violation of Article 17 (3).  
(3) The heads of relevant governmental administra tive organs that receive a request pursuant to 
paragraphs (1) and (2) shall comply with it unless th ey have any special cause that makes them unable 
to do so. <Amended by Act No. 9667, May 8, 2009> [This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9117, Jun. 13, 2008]  
CHAPTER IV   INSPECTION OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, ETC. 
 Article 19 (Inspection of Agricultural Products)  (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shall inspect agricultural products 
determined by Presidential Decree, such as agri cultural products purchased, exported or imported by 
the government.  (2) Matters necessary for the items, criteria and method of inspection of agricultural products under 
paragraph (1), procedures for application therefor, etc. shall be determined by Ordinance of the 
Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 Article 20 (Qualification of Inspectors)  (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry a nd Fisheries shall, when conducting the inspection 
under Article 19 (1), have persons qualified to insp ect relevant agricultural products (hereinafter 
referred to as "inspector") conduct the inspection.  (2) Matters necessary for the qualification of inspect ors, etc. shall be determined by Presidential 
Decree.  [This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 
Article 21 (Issuance of Inspection Certificate, etc.)  Every inspector shall, when completing the inspec tion under Article 19 (1), indicate the results of 
inspection, including the date of inspection, grade, et c. in the packing or label of relevant agricultural 
products or issue inspection certificates to those w ho received inspections, as prescribed by Ordinance 
of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. [This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 22 (Raising Objections, etc.)  
(1) Any person who is dissatisfied with the results  of an inspection of agricultural products under 
Article 19 (1) may request the inspector who conduct ed the inspection to reinspect at the inspection 
site. In such cases, the inspector  shall conduct a reinspection immediately and inform of the results 
thereof.  
(2) Any person who has an objection to the results of  reinspection may raise an objection to the head 
of the inspecting institution to which the inspector concerned belongs within seven days from the date 
of reinspection, and the head of the institution th at receives an objection shall conduct a reinspection 
within five days from the date on which it received the objection and inform the person who raised the 
objection of the results thereof. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 29 
 
 
Article 23 (Invalidation of De terminations on Inspection) 
 When an agricultural product inspected pursuant to  Article 19 (1) falls under any of the following 
subparagraphs, the determ ination on inspection shall become invalid: 
 
1. Where the validity of inspection determined by Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, 
Forestry and Fisheries expires; 2. Where the indication of the results of inspection under Article 21 disappears or is not clear enough. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  
Article 24 (Cancellation of De terminations on Inspection) 
 The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry an d Fisheries may, when an agricultural product 
inspected pursuant to Article 19 (1) falls under any of the following subparagraphs, cancel the 
determination on inspection: Provide d, That he/she shall cancel the determination on inspection in 
cases falling under subparagraph 1: 
 1. Where the fact that the agricultural product is  inspected by false or other unjust methods is 
confirmed; 2. Where the fact that the indication of the r esults of inspection or inspection certificates under 
Article 21 are forged or changed is confirmed; 
3. Where the fact that the packing or contents of the inspected agricultural product is replaced is 
confirmed. [This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 25 (Confirmation, Examination, Checking, etc.) 
 
(1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry a nd Fisheries may have public officials under his/her 
control enter the warehouses, processing facilities,  airplanes and ships of agricultural products 
determined by Presidential Decree, such as agricultural products purchased or imported by the government, and other necessary places to collect the minimum amount of samples necessary for 
confirmation, examination, checking, etc. without  compensation or inspect relevant account books or 
documents. 
 (2) The provisions of Article 7-4 (2) and (3) shall apply mutatis mutandis to the collection of samples 
and inspections under paragraph (1).  
(3) The provisions of Article 7-4 (4) shall apply muta tis mutandis to relevant public officials entering, 
etc. pursuant to paragraph (1). [This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 26 (Designation of Inspecting Institutions, etc.)  
(1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry  and Fisheries may designate agricultural product 
producers' organizations, public ins titutions under Article 4 of the Ac t on the Management of Public 
Institutions (hereinafter referred to as "public instit ution"), agriculture-related corporations, etc. as 
inspecting institutions to conduct the inspecti ons under Article 19 (1) on his/her behalf.  
 
(2) Any person who intends to be designated as an inspecting institution under pa ragraph (1) shall file 
an application to the Minister for Food, Agricult ure, Forestry and Fisheries with facilities and 
manpower necessary for inspection.  IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
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(3) Matters necessary for the criteria and procedure for designation of the inspecting institutions under 
paragraph (1), scope of business of inspection, etc. shall be determined by Ordinance of the Ministry 
for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.  (4) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries may, when the inspecting institution 
under paragraph (1) falls under any of the followi ng subparagraphs, cancel the designation thereof or 
order the suspension of the whole or part of its business, by fixing a period not longer than six months: Provided, That he/she shall cancel the de signation thereof when it falls under subparagraph 1 
or 2:  
1. Where the inspecting institution is desi gnated by false or other unjust methods; 
2. Where the inspecting institution conducts bus iness of inspection under suspension of business; 
3. Where the inspecting institution fails to meet the criteria for designation under paragraph (3); 
4. Where the inspecting institution conducts  inspections falsely or unfaith- fully; 
5. Where the inspecting institution fails to conduc t a designated inspection without any justifiable 
ground. 
 (5) Detailed criteria for the administrative dispositio ns under paragraph (4) shall be determined by 
Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, For estry and Fisheries in consideration of the type, 
seriousness, etc. of relevant offenses. [This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 
Article 27 (Examination of Agricultural Products, etc.)  (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry an d Fisheries may examine th e grades, ingredients, 
noxious substances, etc. of agricultural products or processed agricultural products for the smooth 
transactions, exportation and impor tation of agricultural products. 
 (2) The Minister for Food, Agricu lture, Forestry and Fisheries may designate institutions having 
manpower and facilities which are necessary for examin ation (hereinafter referred to as "examining 
institution") and have them examine agricultural products and processed agricultural products on 
his/her behalf. 
 
(3) Any person who intends to be designated as an  examining institution pursuant to paragraph (2) 
shall file an application to the Minister for Food,  Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries with manpower 
and facilities which are necessary for examination: Provided, That no person for whom one year has 
not passed since the designation of the examini ng institution was cancelled pursuant to Article 27-
2 (1) or (2) shall apply for designa tion of an examining institution. 
 (4) Matters necessary for the criteria and procedur es for designation of examining institutions under 
paragraphs (2) and (3), scope of businesses, etc. shal l be determined by Ordinance of the Ministry for 
Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. [This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 
Article 27-2 (Cancellation of Designati on of Examining Institution, etc.) 
 (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries may, when an examining institution 
falls under any of the following subparagraphs, ca ncel the designation concerned or order the 
suspension of business concerned, by fixing a peri od not longer than six months: Provided, That 
he/she shall cancel designation in cases falling under subparagraph 1 or 2: 
 1. Where the examining institution is desi gnated by false or other unjust methods; 
2. Where the examining institution conducts busin ess of examination under suspension of business; 
3. Where the examining institution issues false examination results; IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 31 
 
4. Where the examining institution violates regulati ons for examination, which are determined by 
Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. 
 (2) Detailed criteria for the administrative dispositio ns under paragraph (1) shall be determined by 
Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 
Article 28 (Prohibition of Misconduct, etc.)  No one shall commit any act in any of the following subparagraphs in connecti on with the inspections 
or examinations under Article 19 (1) or 27 (1): 
 
1. Receiving an inspection or examination by false or other unjust methods; 2. Failing to have agricultural products inspected , which are required to be inspected pursuant to 
Article 19 (1); 3. Forging or changing the indications of the results of an inspection and examination, inspection 
certificates and examination certificates; 
4. Replacing the packing, contents, etc. of inspected agricultural products intentionally; 
5. Making false or exaggerated advertis ements on the results of examination. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 28-2 (Provision of Information, etc.) 
 
(1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry an d Fisheries shall make efforts to provide people 
with the information that he/she deems necessary to  inform people, from among information related to 
the safety and quality of agricultural products, such as the safety inspection, places of origin, etc. of 
agricultural products within the scope permitted by the Official Information Disclosure Act. 
 
(2) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shall, when he/she intends to provide 
people with information pursuant to paragraph (1), establish and operate an information system for the 
collection and management of information related to the safety and quality of agricultural products 
(hereinafter referred to as "agricultu ral product safety information system"). 
 
(3) Matters necessary for the establishment and operation of the agricultural product safety 
information system, provision of information, etc. sh all be determined by Ordinance of the Ministry 
for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. [This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  
CHAPTER V   SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS 
 Article 29 (Honorary Overseers of Agricultural Products)  (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry an d Fisheries may, for the establishment of a fair 
distribution order for agricultural products, commi ssion members, staff, etc. of consumers' 
organizations or producers' or ganizations as honorary overseers of agricultural products to oversee, 
guide and enlighten on the distribution order of agricultural products.  (2) The Minister for Food, Agri culture, Forestry and Fisheries may pay honorary overseers funds 
necessary for overseeing activities.  
 
(3) Matters necessary for the qualification, method of commissioning, duties, etc. of the honorary overseers of agricultural products under paragraph (1) shall be determined by Ordinance of the 
Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.  [This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
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Article 29-2 (Agricultural Product Quality Controller)  The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry an d Fisheries shall operate the agricultural product 
quality controller system for the enhancement of  quality of agricultural products and efficient 
distribution of agricultural products. <A mended by Act No. 8852, Feb. 29, 2008> 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 6816, Dec. 26, 2002] 
 Article 29-3 (Duties of Agricultural Product Quality Controller)  Every agricultural product quality controller shall perform each of the following duties: 
 
1. Determining the grades of agricultural products;  2. Instructing technologies for the quality control of produced and harvested agricultural products; 
3. Adjusting shipping time of agricultural products  and giving advice on quality control technologies; 
4. Other duties necessary for the improvement of  quality of agricultural products and efficient 
distribution of agricultural products determined by Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, 
Forestry and Fisheries. [This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 29-4 (Examination and Qualification of Ag ricultural Product Quality Controllers, etc.)  
 
(1) Any person who intends to become an agri cultural product quality controller shall pass the 
agricultural product quality controller qualification examination implemented by the Minister for 
Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.  (2) Matters necessary for qualifications for applyi ng for the agricultural product quality controller 
qualification examination, examination subjects, met hods of examination, criteria for passing, issue of 
license, etc. shall be determined by Presidential Decree. [This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 29-5 (Matters to be Observed by  Agricultural Product Quality Controllers) 
 
(1) Every agricultural product quality controller sha ll perform his/her duties in good faith so as to 
benefit all producers and consumers by facilitatin g the improvement of quality of agricultural 
products and efficient distribution of agricultural products.   (2) No agricultural product quality controller shall e ither have another person use his/her name or lend 
his/her license to another person. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 29-6 (Cancellation of Qualification of  Agricultural Product Quality Controller)  
 (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry  and Fisheries shall cancel the qualification of 
agricultural product quality controllers who fa lls under any of the following subparagraphs: 
 1. A person who acquires the qualification of agri cultural product quality controller by false or other 
unjust methods; 2. A person who is sentenced to imprisonment with  prison labor or heavier punishment pursuant to 
subparagraph 8 of Article 36. 
 (2) No person whose qualification of agricultural product quality controller is cancelled pursuant to 
paragraph (1) shall re-apply for the qualificati on examination for two years from the time when 
his/her qualification is cancelled. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 33 
 
 
Article 29-7 Deleted. <by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009>  Article 30 (Rewards)  The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries may pay rewards to those who report or 
accuse persons who violated the provisions of Article  15, 15-2, 16 or 17 to the competent government 
office or investigative agency within budgetary limits, as prescr ibed by Presidential Decree. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 31 (Financial Support and Priority Purchase) 
 
(1) The government may, for the improvement of  quality of agricultural products, facilitation of 
standardization of agricultural products and logist ics standardization, etc. provide those who fall 
under any of the following subparagr aphs with funds for the purchase of packing materials, facilities, 
automation equipment, etc. within budgetary limits: 
 
1. Farmers; 2. Producers' organizations; 3. Persons who has obtained certification of good agricultural practices, certifying institutions or 
operators of the facilities for the sanitation, safety and management of harvested agricultural products; 
4. Persons who made the registration of agri cultural traceability or geographical indications; 
5. Distribution facility operators who make effort s to improve the quality of agricultural products 
through employing agricultural product quality controllers, etc.; 6. Agricultural product safety inspection in stitutions or risk assessment institutions; 
7. Agricultural product inspecti on and examination institutions; 
8. Other business operators or organizations which are related to the distribution of agricultural 
products and determined by Ordinance of the Ministry  for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. 
 (2) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry  and Fisheries may, if necessary for the smooth 
distribution of agricultural products and facilitati on of the improvement of quality of agricultural 
products, have standards products, agricultural produ cts with good agricultural practice certification, 
agricultural traceability products, geographical indica tion products, etc. preferentially listed in the 
agricultural and fishery products wholesale market s or agricultural and fishery products joint 
wholesale markets under the Act on Distribution and Pr ice Stabilization of Agricultural and Fishery 
Products.  (3) The State, local governments or public institutions  may, when purchasing agricultural products or 
processed agricultural products, preferentially purch ase standard products, agricultural products with 
good agricultural practice certification, agricultu ral traceability products, geographical indication 
products, etc. [This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 32 (Fees) 
 
Any person who falls under any of the following subparagraphs shall pay fees, as prescribed by 
Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries: Provided, That fees for 
agricultural products purchased, exported or imported by the government, etc. may be reduced or 
exempted as prescribed by Ordinance of the Ministry  for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries: 
 
1. Applicant for certification of good agricultural practices pursuant to Article 5 (3); 2. Applicant for designation of a certifyi ng institution pursuant to Article 6 (2); 
3. Applicant for designation of a good agricultura l practice facility pursuant to Article 7 (2); 
4. Applicant for registration of a geographi cal indication pursuant to Article 8 (2); 
5. Applicant for an inspection of agricultural product pursuant to Article 19; IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
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6. Applicant for designation of an agricultural product-inspecting institution pursuant to Article 26 (2); 7. Applicant for the examination of agricu ltural products pursuant to Article 27 (1); 
8. Applicant for designation of an examini ng institution pursuant to Article 27 (3). 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 
Article 33 (Hearings, etc.)  (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shall, when he/she intends to impose a 
disposition falling under any of the follo wing subparagraphs, hold a hearing:  
 
1. Cancellation of designation of cer tifying institution under Article 6-2; 
2. Cancellation of designation of good agri cultural practice facility under Article 7-2; 
3. Prohibition of sales, suspension of indication or  cancellation of registration under Article 8-8; 
4. Prohibition of sales, suspension of indication or  cancellation of certifica tion and registration under 
Article 11; 
5. Cancellation of judgment on inspection under Article 24; 6. Cancellation of designation of agricultural product-inspecting institution under Article 26 (4); 
7. Cancellation of designation of agricultural  product-examining institution under Article 27-2; 
8. Cancellation of qualification of agricultura l product quality controller under Article 29-6 (1). 
 
(2) When a certifying institution intends to cancel  certification of good agricultural practices pursuant 
to Article 5-2 (1), it shall provide the concerne d persons who have obtaine d certification of good 
agricultural practices with an opportunity to present their opinions.  (3) The provisions of Articles 22 (4) through (6) and 27 of the Administrative Procedures Act shall 
apply mutatis mutandis to the submission of op inion under paragraph (2). In such cases, 
"administrative office" and "competent administrative office" shall be read as "certifying institution". 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 34 (Delegation and Entrustment of Authority)  
(1) Part of the authority of the Minister for Food,  Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries under this Act 
may be delegated to the heads of the institutions un der his/her control, the Administrator of the Rural 
Development Administration, the Minister of the Korea Forestry Service, Mayors/Do Governors, or heads of Sis/Guns/Gus as prescribed by Presidential Decree.  
(2) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry an d Fisheries may entrust part of his/her authority 
under this Act to producers' organizations, public institutions and agriculture and forestry-related 
corporations as prescribed by Presidential Decree.  [This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 34-2 (Legal Fiction of Public Offi cials in Application of Penal Provisions) 
 
Any person who falls under any of the following subpa ragraphs shall be deemed a public official in 
the application of the penal provisions under th e provisions of Articles 129 through 132 of the 
Criminal Act:  
1. Members who are not public officials among the members under Article 3; 
2. Officers and employees of certifying instituti ons who engage in the business of certification of 
good agricultural practices pursuant to Article 6; 3. Member judges under Article 8-9 who are not public officials; 4. Officers and employees of safety inspection instit utions who engage in safety inspection and the 
business of testing and analysis  pursuant to Article 14-2; IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 35 
 
5. Officers and employees of producers' organizati ons, etc. who engage in business of inspection 
pursuant to Article 26; 6. Officers and employees of examining institutions  who engage in business of examination pursuant 
to Article 27; 7. Officers and employees of producers' organizations, etc. who engage in businesses entrusted pursuant to Article 34 (2). 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009] 
 CHAPTER VI   PENAL PROVISIONS  Article 34-3 (Penal Provisions) 
 
Any person who violates the provisions of Article 17 (1) or (3) shall be punished by imprisonment 
with prison labor for not more than seven years or by a fine not exceeding 100 million won, or 
punished by both of them concurrently. <Amended by Act No 7675, Aug. 4, 2005; Act No. 9117, 
Jun. 13, 2008; Act No. 9667, May 8, 2009> 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 6816, Dec. 26, 2002] 
 Article 35 (Penal Provisions)  A person who falls under any of the following subparag raphs shall be punished by imprisonment with 
prison labor for not more than three years or by a fine not exceeding 30 million won:  
 
1. A person who places an indication of geographical  indication product on the packing, containers, 
advertisements and releva nt documents of agricultural products or  processed agricultural products that 
are not geographical indication products or places an y indication similar thereto, in violation of 
Article 8-6 (1); 
2. A person who sells agricultural products or processed agricultural products that are not standards 
products, agricultural products with good agricultura l practice certification, agricultural traceability 
products or geographical indicati on products by mixing with standards products, good agricultural 
practice-certified products, agricultural traceability products or geographical indication products or 
keeps or displays agricultural products or pro cessed agricultural products or processed agricultural 
products that are not standards products, agricu ltural products with good agricultural practice 
certification, agricultural traceability products or geographical indication products by mixing with 
standards products, good agricultural practice-certifie d products, agricultural traceability products or 
geographical indication products for sales purposes, in violation of Article 8-6 (2) or 9 (2); 
3. A person who places any indication of standard product, agricultural  product with good agricultural 
practice certification and agricultural traceability pr oduct on agricultural products or processed 
agricultural products that are not standard pro ducts, agricultural products with good agricultural 
practice certification, and agricultural traceability products, or places indications similar thereto, in violation of Article 9 (1); 4. A person who violates the provisions of Article 17 (2); 5. A person who receives an agricultural product inspection under Article 19 or examination under 
Article 27 by false or other unjust methods, in  violation of subparagraph 1 of Article 28; 
6. A person who forges or changes an indication of th e results of inspection and examination, etc., in 
violation of subparagr aph 3 of Article 28. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 36 (Penal Provisions) 
 
A person who falls under any of the following subparag raphs shall be punished by imprisonment with 
prison labor for not more than one year or by a fine not exceeding ten million won:  1. A person who fails to obtain registration, in  violation of the proviso to Article 7-5 (1); IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
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2. A person who fails to obey a disposition under Artic le 8-8 or 11, such as an order for correction, 
suspension of indication or prohibition of sales (excluding an order for correction of method of indication); 3. A person who fails to carry out measures under Article 14 (1); 4. A person who fails to obey a di sposition under Article 18-2 (1); 
5. A person who fails to carry out an or der for announcement under Article 18-2 (2); 
6. A person who fails to have ag ricultural products inspected, which are required to be inspected 
pursuant to Article 19 (1), in viola tion of subparagraph 2 of Article 28; 
7. A person who replaces the packing or contents of  inspected agricultural products, in violation of 
subparagraph 4 of Article 28; 
8. A person who has another person use his/her name  as an agricultural product quality controller or 
lends his/her license to another person,  in violation of Article 29-5 (2). 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 37 (Joint Penal Provisions) 
 
When a representative of a corporation, or an atto rney, employee or other worker of a corporation or 
an individual person commits an offense falling unde r Article 34-2, 35 or 36 in connection with a 
business of the corporation or the individual person, not only the offender is punished but also the 
corporation or the individual person shall be punish ed by a fine as provided for in the corresponding 
Article: Provided, That the same  shall not apply to cases where th e corporation or the individual 
person paid a considerable atten tion to and diligently supervised the business concerned to prevent 
such offense. [This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009]  Article 38 (Fines for Negligence) 
 
(1) A person who falls under any of the following subparagraphs shall be punished by a fine for 
negligence not exceeding ten million won: <Amended by Act No. 7675, Aug. 4,  2005; Act No. 9117, 
Jun. 13, 2008; Act No. 9667, May 8, 2009; Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009>  1. A person who obtained registration pursuant to the proviso to Article 7-5 (1) and falls under any of 
the following items: 
(a) A person who fails to place an indication of traceability, in violation of the proviso to Article 7-5 (2); (b)  A person who fails to observe the traceability standards, in violatio n of Article 7-5 (3); 
(c)  A person who fails to report within on e month, in violation of Article 7-5 (4); 
2. A person who refuses, interferes with or evad es collection, examination, inspection, etc., in 
violation of Article 7-4 (2) (including cases where the provisions of Article 7-4 (2) applies mutatis 
mutandis in Articles 8-7 (2), 10 (2), 13 (2) and 25 (2)) or Article 18 (3);  3. A person who fails to place an indication of place of  origin, etc. or genetically modified agricultural 
product, in violation of Article 15 (2), 15-2 (1) and (2), 15-3 (1) or 16 (2); 4. A person who violates the method of indication of place of origin or method of indication of 
genetically modified agricultural product unde r Article 15 (3), 15-2 (3) or 16 (3);  
5. A person who makes a false or  exaggerated advertisement on th e results of examination, in 
violation of subparagr aph 5 of Article 28; 
6. A person who violates an order for correcti on of method of indication among the orders for 
correction under Article 8-8 or 11. 
 
(2) Fines for negligence under paragraph (1) shall be imposed and collected by the Minister for Food, 
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Mayors/Do Governors or the heads of Sis/Guns/Gus, as 
prescribed by Presidential Decree. <Amende d by Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009> 
 
(3) through (5) Deleted. <by Act No. 9667, May 8, 2009> IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 37 
 
 
ADDENDA   Article 1 (Enforcement Date) This Act shall enter into  force on July 1, 1999. 
 
Article 2 (Repeal of other Acts) 
The Agricultural Products Inspection Act shall be repealed.  Article 3 (Transitional Measures concerning Sta ndards of Agricultural and Fishery Products) 
 
(1) The shipping standards stipulated by the provi sions of Article 12 (1) of the former Act on the 
Fosterage of Agricultural and Marine Products Pr ocessing Industries and Quality Control at the time 
this Act enters into force shall be deemed the standards under Article 4 (1) of this Act. 
 (2) The quality of agricultural and marine products  which is certified pursuant to Article 13 of the 
former Act on the Fosterage of Agricultural a nd Marine Products Processing Industries and Quality 
Control at the time this Act enters into force sh all be deemed to have been certified pursuant to 
Article 5 (1) of this Act.  (3) Any person who is imposed a disposition of cha nge of indication pursuant to Article 15 of the 
former Act on the Fosterage of Agricultural a nd Marine Products Processing Industries and Quality 
Control at the time this Act enters into force sha ll be deemed to have been imposed a disposition of 
change of indication, etc. pursuant to Article 11 of this Act.   (4) The items subject to indication of place of orig in under Article 17 (1) of the former Act on the 
Fosterage of Agricultural and Marine Products Pr ocessing Industries and Quality Control at the time 
this Act enters into force shall be deemed item s subject to indication of place of origin under 
Article 15 (1) of this Act.   Article 4 (Transitional Measures concerning Inspection, etc.)  (1) The agricultural products inspect ed pursuant to the former Agricu ltural Products Inspection Act at 
the time this Act enters into force shall be deemed  to have been inspected pursuant to this Act. 
 (2) The inspecting public officials under Article 9 of the former Agricultural Products Inspection Act 
at the time this Act enters into force shall be deemed to have the qualification of inspector under 
Article 20 of this Act. 
 
(3) The results of inspection or inspection certifi cates which are indicated or issued pursuant to 
Article 13 of the former Agricultural Products Inspec tion Act at the time this Act enters into force 
shall be deemed to have been indicated or issued pursuant to Article 21 of this Act. 
 Article 5 (General Transitional Measures) 
 
The actions conducted by governmental administrativ e organs, other acts conducted by governmental 
administrative organs or various kinds of appli cation, and other acts conducted toward governmental 
administrative organs under the former Agricultu ral Products Inspection Act and former Act on the 
Fosterage of Agricultural and Marine Products Pr ocessing Industries and Quality Control at the time 
this Act enters into force shall be deemed acts conducted by governmental administrative organs or 
acts against governmental administrative orga ns under this Act, which correspond thereto. 
 IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
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Article 6 (Transitional Measures concerning Pe nal Provisions and Fines for Negligence) 
 In the application of penal provisions or fines for negligence to acts committed before this Act enters 
into force, the provisions of the former Agricu ltural Products Inspection Ac t and former Act on the 
Fosterage of Agricultural and Marine Products Processing Industries and Quality Control shall 
prevail. 
 Article 7 Omitted.  Article 8 (Relations with Other Acts and Subordinate Statutes) 
 
In cases where other Acts and subordinate statutes  cited the former Agricultural Products Inspection 
Act or the Act on the Fosterage of Agricultura l and Marine Products Processing Industries and 
Quality Control or the provisions thereof at the time  this Act enters into force, if this Act has 
provisions corresponding thereto, they shall be deem ed to have cited this Act or the corresponding 
provisions of this Act in lieu of the former provisions.  
  ADDENDUM <Act No. 6191, Jan. 21, 2000> This Act shall enter into  force on March 1, 2001. 
 
ADDENDA <Act No. 6378, Jan. 26, 2001> 
 Article 1 (Enforcement Date) This Act shall enter into  force on July 1, 2001. 
 
Articles 2 through 7 Omitted. 
 ADDENDA <Act No. 6380, Jan. 26, 2001>  Article 1 (Enforcement Date) This Act shall enter into  force on July 1, 2001. 
 
Articles 2 through 6 Omitted.  ADDENDA <Act No. 6399, Jan. 29, 2001>  
Article 1 (Enforcement Date) 
This Act shall enter into force on September 1, 2001.  Articles 2 through 9 Omitted.  ADDENDA <Act No. 6595, Jan. 14, 2002> 
 
(1) (Enforcement Date)  This Act shall enter into force six months after its promulgation.  (2) (Transitional Measures concerning Fines for Negligen ce) In the application of fines for negligence 
to acts committed before this Act enters into force, the former provisions shall prevail. 
 IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 39 
 
ADDENDA <Act No. 6816, Dec. 26, 2002> 
 (1) (Enforcement Date) This Act shall enter in to force six months after its promulgation. 
 (2) (Transitional Measures concerning Penal Pr ovisions) Any person who violates the former 
provisions of Article 17 before this Act enters in to force shall be governed by the former penal 
provisions. 
 ADDENDUM <Act No. 7675, Aug. 4, 2005> This Act shall enter into force on January 1, 2006.  
ADDENDA <Act No. 7996, Sep. 27, 2006> 
 Article 1 (Enforcement Date) This Act shall enter into force six months after its promulgation.  
Articles 2 through 7 Omitted. 
 ADDENDUM <Act No. 8103, Dec. 28, 2006> This Act shall enter into force six months after its promulgation.  ADDENDA <Act No. 8852, Feb. 29, 2008> 
 
Article 1 (Enforcement Date) This Act shall enter into force on the date  of its promulgation. (Proviso Omitted.) 
 Articles 2 through 7 Omitted. 
 
ADDENDUM <Act No. 9117, Jun. 13, 2008> This Act shall enter into force on the date of its pr omulgation: Provided, That the rice in the amended 
provisions of Article 15-2 (2) shall enter into force on June 22, 2006, and the livestock products 
excluding beef in the amended provisions of paragr aph (1) of the same Arti cle and gimchi in the 
amended provisions of paragr aph (20 of the same Article on December, 22, 2008. 
 
 ADDENDA <Act No. 9432, Feb. 6, 2009>  Article 1 (Enforcement Date) 
This Act shall enter into force six months after its promulgation. (Proviso Omitted.) 
 Articles 2 through 7 Omitted.  ADDENDA <Act No. 9667, May 8, 2009>  
(1) (Enforcement Date) This Act shall enter in to force six months after its promulgation. 
 (2) (Examples of Application) The amended provisi ons of Article 15-3 (1) shall apply, starting from 
the first commencement of mail ordering after this Act enters into force. 
 
ADDENDA <Act No. 9759, Jun. 9, 2009> 
 Article 1 (Enforcement Date) This Act shall enter into force six months after its promulgation.  IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
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Article 2 (Applicability concerning Regi stration of Geographical Indication) 
The amended provisions of Article 8 (3) shall a pply, starting from the first application for the 
registration of a geographical indication, which is made after this Act enters into force. 
 Article 3 (Transitional Measures concerning Validit y of Registration of Agricultural Traceability) 
Any person who has the validity of registration of  agricultural traceability extended pursuant to the 
former provisions at the time this Act enters into force shall follow the former provisions, 
notwithstanding the amended provisions of Article 7-5 (5).  Article 4 (Transitional Measures concerning Certif ication of Good Agricultural Practices, etc.) 
 
(1) Any person who has obtained certification of g ood agricultural practices, designation of a good 
agricultural practice-certifying institution, and d esignation of a good agricultural practice facility 
pursuant to the former provisions of Articles 7-2 thr ough 7-4 at the time this Act enters into force 
shall be deemed to have obtained the certificati on of good agricultural practices, designation of the 
certifying institution and designation of the good agri cultural practice facility pursuant to the amended 
provisions of Articles 5, 6 and 7 of this Act.  (2) Any institution that is designated as a good agri cultural practice- certifying institution pursuant to 
the former provisions of Article 7-4 at the time th is Act enters into force shall be deemed to be 
designated as a certifying institution for five years fro m the date on which this Act enters into force 
pursuant to the amended provisions of Article 6 (3). 
 (3) Any facility that is designated as a good agricu ltural practice facility pursuant to the former 
provisions of Article 7-3 at the time this Act enters  into force shall be deemed to be designated as a 
good agricultural practice facility for five years fro m the date on which this Act enters into force 
pursuant to the amended provisions of Article 7 (4). 
 (4) Any person who place a geographical indication pursu ant to the former provisions at the time this 
Act enters into force shall be deemed to have made the registration of the geographical indication 
under the amended provisions of Article 8: Provi ded, That when the registered geographical 
indication falls into the grounds of rejecti ng registration under the amended provisions of 
Article 8 (7), neither the right to claim the pr ohibition of infringement nor the right to claim 
compensation under the amended provisions of Article 8-5 shall come into existence. 
 Article 5 (Transitional Measures concerning Pe nal Provisions and Fines for Negligence) 
In the application of penal provisions and fines for negligence to acts committed before this Act enters 
into force, the former provisions shall prevail. 
 Article 6 Omitted.  Article 7 (Relations with othe r Act and Subordinate Statutes) 
When other Acts and subordinate statutes (incl uding Acts and subordinate statutes promulgated 
before this Act enters into force but the enforcem ent date of which has not yet arrived) cited the 
provisions of the former Agricultural Products Qualit y Control Act at the time this Act enters into 
force, if this Act has provisions corresponding ther eto, they shall be deemed to have cited the 
corresponding provisions of this Act in lieu of the former provisions.  
ADDENDA <Act No. 9932, Jan. 18, 2010> 
 Article 1 (Enforcement Date) This Act shall enter into force two months after the date of its promulgation. (Proviso Omitted.) 
 
Articles 2 through 5 Omitted. IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 41 
 
 
ENFORCEMENT DECREE OF THE AGRICULTURAL 
PRODUCTS QUALITY CONTROL ACT 
 
 
Article 1 (Purpose)  The purpose of this Decree is to prescribe matte rs delegated by the Agricultural Products Quality 
Control Act and matters necessary for the enforc ement thereof. <Amended by Presidential Decree 
No. 17351, Sep. 1, 2001; Presidential Decree  No. 19279, Jan. 16, 2006; Presidential Decree 
No. 20908, Jul. 7, 2008>  Article 2 (Scope of Agricultural Products)  The term "others determined by Presidential Decree" prescribed in sub- paragraph 1 of Article 2 of the 
Agricultural Products Quality Control Act (hereinafter  referred to as the "Act") means the meat, eggs 
and other by-products of raised wild animals. [This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 Article 3 (Operation of Agricultural Produc ts Quality Control Deliberation Committee) 
 
(1) In order to handle the administrative affair s of the Agricultural Products Quality Control 
Deliberation Committee under Article 3 (1) of the Ac t (hereinafter referred to as the "Deliberation 
Committee"), the Deliberation Committee shall ha ve one secretary and one clerical staff. 
 
(2) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry an d Fisheries shall appoint the secretary and clerical 
staff under paragraph (1) among the public officials under his/her control. [This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 Article 4 Deleted. <by Presidential Decree No. 17351, Sep. 1, 2001>  
Article 5 (Duties of Chairperson) 
 (1) The chairperson of the Deliberation Committee (her einafter referred to as the "chairperson") shall 
represent the Deliberation Committe e and supervise its businesses.  
 
(2) The vice-chairperson shall assist the chairperso n and act on behalf of the chairperson when the 
chairperson is unable to conduct his/her duties due to unavoidable causes. [This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 Article 6 (Meetings)   
(1) The chairperson shall convene meetings of th e Deliberation Committee and preside thereover.  
 (2) The Deliberation Committee shall be held with th e presence of a majority of registered members, 
and make resolutions by the majority vote of members present.  [This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 
Article 7 (Establishment of Subcommittees)  The indication certification subcommittee and safe ty subcommittee shall be established in the 
Deliberation Committee pursuant to Article 3 (7) of the Act.  
[This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
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Article 8 (Composition of Subcommittees)  (1) The subcommittee for deliberations on the registration of geogra phical indications under 
Article 3 (6) of the Act and the subcommittees under Article 7 (hereinafter referred to as 
"subcommittees") shall be comprised of not less than  ten and not more than 20 members, including 
one chair- person and one vice chairperson of subcommittee. 
 (2) The chairperson, vice chairperson and members of each subcommittee shall be designated by the 
chairperson from among the members of the Deliber ation Committee in consideration of professional 
knowledge and experience. 
 
(3) The chairperson and vice chairperson of ea ch subcommittee shall represent the relevant 
subcommittee and supervise the businesses of the subcommittee. 
 (4) The vice chairperson of each subcommittee shall assist the chairperson of the relevant 
subcommittee and, when the chairperson of the subc ommittee is unable to conduct his/her duties due 
to unavoidable causes, act on behalf of him/her.  (5) The provisions of Article 3 sha ll apply mutatis mutandis to the secretaries and clerical staff of the 
subcommittee for deliberations on the registration of  geographical indications under Article 3 (6) of 
the Act (hereinafter referred to as "subcommittee fo r deliberations on the registration of geographical 
indications"). 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 Article 9 (Meetings of Subcommittees)  
(1) The chairperson of each subcommittee shall conve ne meetings of the relevant subcommittee and 
preside thereover.  (2) The meeting of each subcommittee shall be held  with presence of a majority of registered 
subcommittee members, and make resolutions by  the majority vote of subcommittee members 
present: Provided, That the subcommittee for delib erations on the registration of geographical 
indications shall pass resolutions by approva l of 2/3 of subcommittee members present.  
 (3) The deliberations and resolutions of each subc ommittee on matters entrusted by the Deliberation 
Committee shall be deemed the deliberations a nd resolutions of the Deliberation Committee. 
 
(4) Every subcommittee may, when deemed necessary, have interested persons, experts in relevant 
areas, etc. attend to listen to their opinions. [This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 Article 10 Deleted. <by Presidential Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009>  
Article 11 (Allowances for Members, etc.) 
 Allowances and travelling expenses may be paid  to the members who attend the Deliberation 
Committee and subcommittees within budgetary limits: Provided, That the same shall not apply to 
cases where public officials attend in connection with their business. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
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Article 12 (Rules for Operation) 
 Besides the matters provided for in Articles 3 thr ough 11, matters necessary for the operation of the 
Deliberation Committee and subcommittees shall be de termined by the chairperson and chairpersons 
of subcommittees by the resolution of the Deliber ation Committee and subcommittees, respectively. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 
Article 13 (Persons Exempt from Obliga tion to Observe Traceability Standards) 
 The term "peddlers, street vendors and those determ ined by Presidential Decr ee" prescribed in the 
proviso to Article 7-5 (3) of the Act means street vendors and peddlers who fall under Article 57 (1) 1 
of the Enforcement Decree of the Value-Added Tax Act. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 Article 14 (Range of Areas Subject to Indication of Geographical Indication) 
 
The range of areas subject to the indication of geographical indications for the registration of 
geographical indications under Article 8 (1) of the Ac t shall be demarcated by administrative districts, 
mountains, rivers, the sea, etc. which have geogra phical characteristics identic al to those that have 
influence on the characteristics of relevant items: Prov ided, That such range shall be Korea in cases of 
the ginseng under the Ginseng Industry Act. [This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 
Articles 14-2 through 14-4 Deleted. <by Presidential Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009>  Article 15 (Qualification for Applying for Registration of Geographical Indications) 
 
The qualification to apply for the re gistration of geographical indications  prescribed in Article 8 (2) of 
the Act shall be limited to organizations (only a ju ristic person may be applicable) comprised of the 
producers and processors of agricultural products or processed agricultural products featuring the 
geographical characteristics of specific areas: Provide d, That the same shall not apply to cases where 
an individual produces or processes agricultural produc ts or processed agricultural products featuring 
geographical characteristics. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 Article 16 (Deliberations on and P ublication and Public Inspection of Geographical Indications and 
Procedures for Raising Objections to Geographical Indications)  
(1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shall, when he/she receives an 
application for registration of a geographical indi cation or application for change of registration 
pursuant to Article 8 (2) of the Act, request the subcommittee for deliberations on the registration of 
geographical indications for a deliberation there on within 15 days from the date on which he/she 
received such application.  
(2) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shall, wh en the subcommittee for 
deliberations on the registration of geographical indi cations passes a resolution to the effect that the 
registration of a geographical indication and the regi stration of change thereof is unsuitable, inform 
the applicant thereof without delay, clarifying the grounds thereof in detail: Provided, That he/she 
may, when it is deemed possible to supplement unsuitable matters, have the applicant supplement 
such matters, by fixing a period. 
 (3) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shall, wh en the subcommittee for 
deliberations on the registration of geographical indi cations passes a resolution to the effect that an 
application for registration is suitable, make a dete rmination to publish application for registration of IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 44  
  
geographical indications pursuant to Article 8 (3) of the Act and make a publication, including the 
matters in each of the following subparagraphs pursuant to paragraph (4) of the same Article: 
 1. Name, address and telephone number of the applicant; 2. Items for the registration of geographical indications and appellation for registration; 
3. Range of areas subject to the indication of geographical indications; 
4. Connections between reputation, quality and other characteristics, and geographical factors; 
5. Applicant's quality standards and quality control plan; 6. Place of the public inspection under paragraph (4).  
(4) The application documents for registration and their annexed documents under Article 8 (4) of the 
Act shall be submitted for public  inspection at places designated  by the Minister for Food, 
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.  (5) With respect to objections raised pursuant to Article 8 (5) of the Act, the Minister for Food, 
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shall undergo de liberation by the subcommittee for deliberations 
on the registration of geographical indications and inform the persons who raised objections of the 
results thereof.  (6) Besides the matters provided for in paragra phs (1) through (5), matters necessary for the 
deliberation on, publication and public inspecti on of, and procedures for raising objections to 
geographical indications shall be determined by Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, 
Forestry and Fisheries. [This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 Article 17 (Detailed Criteria for Grounds for Rej ecting Registration of Geographical Indications) 
 
(1) Detailed criteria for the grounds of rejecting the registration of geographical indications under 
Article 8 (7) 5 of the Act shall be as follows:  1. Where a relevant item is neither  an agricultural product produced onl y in the relevant area subject 
to the indication of a geographical indication nor an  item produced by using such agricultural products 
as a main ingredient in the relevant area; 
2. Where the distinguished quality of a releva nt item is not known domestically or abroad; 
3. Where a relevant item has no long history of production in the relevant area subject to the indication of a geographical indication; 4. Where the reputation, quality or other characteris tics of a relevant item essentially is originated 
neither from production environments nor from huma n factors of the relevant specific area; 
5. Others, such as cases where a relevant item is not in conformity with the criteria deemed necessary and determined by the Minister for Food , Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. 
 (2) With respect to the ginseng under the Ginseng I ndustry Act, in cases of fresh ginseng grown from 
ginseng seeds traditionally cultivated in Korea (Panax  ginseng C.A. Meyer) or items manufactured in 
Korea by using such fresh ginseng as raw material s, no registration of the geographical indications 
thereof shall be rejected, notwithstanding paragraph (1). [This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 Article 18 (Criteria for Imposition of Dispos itions of Orders for Correction, etc.) 
 
Criteria for the imposition of dispositions, such as an order for correction, prohibition of sale, 
suspension of indication, and cancellation of registra tion, etc. of geographical indication products and 
standard products under Articles 8-8 through 11 of  the Act are as shown in attached Table 1. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 45 
 
Article 19 (Composition of Geographical I ndiction Protection Judgment Committee) 
 (1) The members of the Geographical Indicati on Protection Judgment Committee under Article 8-
9 (1) of the Act (hereinafter referred to as the "Judgment Committee") shall be appointed or 
commissioned by the Minister for Food, Agricultu re, Forestry and Fisheries among those who fall 
under any of the following subparagraphs: 
 
1. State public officials of Grade Ⅳ or above in general service belonging to the Ministry for Food, 
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Korea Forest  Service, or public officials in general service 
belonging to the Senior Civil Service; 2. Persons who have worked as a judge for two y ears or more from among state public officials of 
Grade IV or above in general service belonging to  the Korean Intellectual Property Office or public 
officials in general service belonging to the Senior Civil Service; 3. Persons qualified as an attorn ey-at-law or patent attorney; 
4. Persons with abundant knowledge  and experience in the areas of intellectual property rights and 
protection of geographical indications. 
 
(2) The term of office of members shall be three years, and members may be reappointed. 
 (3) The Judgment Committee shall have each one of secretary and clerical staff who are appointed by 
the Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries from among the public officials under his/her control. 
 
(4) The secretary and clerical staff of the Judgeme nt Committee shall handle the administrative affairs 
of the Judgement Committee under the direction of  the chairperson of th e Judgment Committee. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 
Article 20 (Operation of Judgment Committee) 
 (1) The chairperson of the Judgment Committee sha ll, upon receipt of an application for adjudgment 
pursuant to Article 8-13 of the Act, allocate it a tr ial number and designate member judges to the case 
pursuant to Article 8-15 of the Act and notify th e person who applied for adjudgment of the trial 
number and the designation of member judges in wr iting. In such cases, no member judge who has 
participated in the deliberation on the case as a subcommittee member of the subcommittee for deliberations on the registration of geographical indica tions or has an interest in the application of 
adjudgment shall be designated as a member judge.  (2) The Judgment Committee shall not, when making a trial decision, take into account any document 
submitted by parties concerned or advocates after the termination of trials is  notified to the parties 
concerned and advocates, and such documents shall be  returned to the parties concerned or advocates 
only when an application applies for returning thereof: Provided, That the same shall not apply to 
cases where a trial is resumed before returning such documents.  
(3) The Judgment Committee shall, in order to re nder a decision on a trial, prepare a written decision 
in which the matters in each of the following s ubparagraphs are entered and affix names and seals 
thereto:  1. Trial number; 2. Name and address (in cases of a corporation, its  name, name of representative, location of business 
site) of parties concerned and advocates (including applicants for intervention; hereafter the same 
shall apply in this Article); 3. Name, and address or location of business site of parties concerned and advocates (limited to cases 
where there is an attorney); 4. Indication of trial case; IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
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5. Conclusion of the decision and the grounds therefor; 6. Date of decision.  (4) Besides the matters provided for in paragraphs (1) through (3), detailed matters necessary for the 
operation of the Judgment Committee shall be determined by Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, 
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 Article 21 (Request for Risk Asse ssment of Agricultural Products, etc. and Announcement of Results 
thereof) 
 
(1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry  and Fisheries shall, when the harmfulness of 
agricultural products, etc. is suspected even thou gh it is not confirmed inside or outside Korea, 
determine whether they are risky or not by requ esting the institutions un der each subparagraph of 
paragraph (1) of Article 14-6 to conduct the risk  assessment under paragraph (1) of the same Article. 
 
(2) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry  and Fisheries shall a nnounce the agricultural 
products that he/she deems likely to harm huma n health as results of a risk assessment under 
paragraph (1), or farmland, water, materials, etc.  which are used for the production of agricultural 
products by putting them on the agricultural produc t safety information system and Internet homepage 
of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries under Article 28-2 (2) of the Act.  
 
(3) The objects and methods of the risk assessme nt under paragraph (1) sh all be determined by 
Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Fo restry and Fisheries, and other necessary detailed 
matters shall be determined and published by th e Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and 
Fisheries. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 Article 22 Deleted. <by Presidential Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009>  Article 23 (Items Subject to Indication of Place of Origin)  
(1) The items subject to the indication of place of origin under Articles 15 (3) and 15-3 (2) of the Act 
shall be determined and published by the Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries from 
among items of agricultural products, and processed  agricultural products using such agricultural 
products as raw materials, which are deemed neces sary for the establishment of distribution orders 
and appropriate decision-making of consumers: Provided, That in cases where such items are 
imported agricultural products and imported processed agricultural products (hereinafter referred to as 
"imported agricultural products, etc."), the items announced by the Minister for Knowledge Economy 
pursuant to Article 33 of the Foreign Trade Act sha ll become items subject to the indication of place 
of origin.  (2) With respect to standard products under Article  4 of the Act and items determined by Ordinance of 
the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fi sheries, the indication of place of origin may be 
omitted, notwithstanding paragraph (1). [This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 Article 24 (Methods of Indication of Place of Origin) 
 
(1) The methods of indication of place of origin unde r Articles 15 (3) and 15-3 (2) of the Act shall be 
as follows:   1. Domestic agricultural products: The term "home product" or "domestic product", or the names of 
Special Metropolitan City, Metropolitan Cities/Dos/Special Self-Governing Provinces (hereinafter IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 47 
 
referred to as "City/Do") or Sis/Guns/autonomous Gu s (hereinafter referred to as "Si/Gun/Gu") in 
which such agricultural products are produced are to be indicated; 2. Imported agricultural products, etc.: The places of  origin are to be indicated according to the 
methods determined by the Foreign Trade Act; 3. Domestic processed agricultural products (i ncluding imported processed agricultural products 
processed in Korea): The places of origin of raw mate rials are to be indicated in the order of the 
contained quantities of raw materials used in such processed agricultural products; 
4. Agricultural products mixed with items identical  thereto but with different places of origin: The 
mixing ratio by the places of origin is to be indicated.  (2) Detailed matters concerning the indication of places of origin of the domestic agricultural 
products, domestic processed agricultural produc ts and agricultural products mixed with items 
identical but with different places of origin under paragraph (1) 1, 3 and 4 shall be determined by 
Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 
Article 25 (Criteria for Determining Places of Origin) 
 (1) The criteria for determining the places of  origin of domestic agricultural products under 
Articles 15 (3) and 15-3 (2) of the Act shall be as follows: <Amended by Presidential Decree 
No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009>  
1. Agricultural products to place an indication of the names of Cities/Dos or the names of 
Sis/Guns/Gus thereon: The Cities/Dos or Sis/Guns/ Gus in which relevant agricultural products are 
produced; 2. Wild animals or wild plants to place an indi cation of the names of Cities/Dos or the names of 
Sis/Guns/Gus thereon: The Cities/Dos or Sis/Guns /Gus in which relevant animals and plants are 
raised or collected. 
 (2) Determining the places of origin of imported ag ricultural products, etc. under Articles 15 (3) and 
15-3 (2) of the Act shall follow the criteria for determ ining the places of origin under Article 61 of the 
Foreign Trade Act: Provided, That in cases of pro cessing imported agricultural products, etc. in 
Korea, the places of origin of relevant processed ag ricultural products shall be the places of origin of 
the imported agricultural products or imported pro cessed agricultural products which are supplied for 
such processed agricultural products. <Amended by  Presidential Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009> 
 (3) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries may, when  necessary for determining 
the places of origin, designate and publish institutions  to examine samples. <Amended by Presidential 
Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009> 
 (4) In cases where determining the places of origin of the agricultural products under paragraph (1) 1 
is difficult due to transplantation, migration, etc., detailed criteria for determining shall be determined 
and published by the Minister for Food, Agriculture , Forestry and Fisheries. <Newly Inserted by 
Presidential Decree No. 21805, Nov. 2, 2009> <Enforcement Date: Jul. 1, 2010> 
 
Article 25-2 (Business Operators subject to Indication of Place of Origin, etc.)  (1) The term "business and institutional food servi ce facility determined by Presidential Decree" 
prescribed in Article 15-2 (1) of the Act means those who conduct the resting restaurant business 
under subparagraph 8 (a) of Article 21 of the Enforc ement Decree of the Food Sanitation Act, general 
restaurant business under item (b) of the same s ubparagraph, or entrusted food service business under 
item (e) of the same subparagraph and those who in stalls and operate the institutional food service 
facility under Article 2 of the Enforcement Decree of the same Act.   IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 48  
  
(2) The term "person that conducts a business dete rmined by Presidential Decree" prescribed in 
Article 15-2 (2) of the Act with exception of each subparagraph means those who operate the resting 
restaurant business under subparagraph 8 (a) of Arti cle 21 of the Enforcement Decree of the Food 
Sanitation Act, general restaurant business under ite m (b) of the same subparagraph and entrusted 
food service business under item (e) of the same subparagraph.  
[This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 Article 25-3 (Subjects of Indication of Place of Origin, etc.)  (1) The livestock products subject to the indication of  place of origin, etc. pursuant to Article 15-2 (1) 
of the Act shall be as follows: <Amended by Presidential Decree No. 21805, Nov. 2, 2009> 
 1. Fresh, packed and processed beef products: Sale and supply (including cases of keeping and 
displaying for the purpose of sale and supply after c ooking; hereinafter the same shall apply) after 
cooking for all purposes, such as roasting, making soup, smothering, frying and minced raw beef (in 
cases of minced raw beef, including cases of sale and supply without cooking); 
2. Fresh, packed, and processed pork products (limited to spiced meat, processed ground meat products, processed rib products and processed meat extract products): Sale and supply after cooking 
for roasting, making soup, smothering or frying; 3. Fresh, packed and processed chicken products (limited to spiced meat, processed ground meat 
products, processed rib products and processed meat extract products): Sale and supply after cooking 
for roasting, making soup, smothering or frying. 
 (2) The term "those determined by Presidential Decr ee" prescribed in Article 15-2 (2) 1 of the Act 
means those replaced by boiled rice (excluding porri dge, sweet drink made from fermented rice, rice 
cake and noodle). 
 
(3) The term "those determined by Presidential Decr ee" prescribed in Article 15-2 (2) 2 of the Act 
means those supplied through the processes of salting and mixing with spices to be supplied as side 
dishes or those supplied as side dishes throu gh the processes of fermentation or processing. 
<Amended by Presidential Decree  No. 21805, Nov. 2, 2009> 
[This Article Newly Inserted by Presiden tial Decree No. 20908, Jul. 7, 2008] 
 
Article 26 (Items Subject to Indication of Ge netically Modified Agricultural Product) 
 The items subject to the indication of genetically modified agricultural products under Article 16 (3) 
of the Act shall be those the Commissioner of the Korea Food & Drug Administration recognizes to 
be suitable for eating as a result of a safety assess ment under Article 18 of the Food Sanitation Act 
and publishes (including their seed sprouts, such  as bean sprouts and vegetable seed sprouts).  
[This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 Article 27 (Criteria for Indication of Geneti cally Modified Agricultural Product, etc.) 
 
(1) The criteria for the indication of genetically modified agricultural product under Article 16 (3) of 
the Act shall be as follows:  1. Genetically modified agricultural products: To be marked "Genetically modified agricultural 
product (forest product or livestock product)"; 
2. Agricultural products containing genetically m odified agricultural products: To be marked 
"Contains genetically modified agricultural produc ts (forest products or livestock products)";  
3. Agricultural products likely to contain genetica lly modified agricultural products: To be marked 
"Likely to contain genetically modified agricultural products (forestry products or livestock products)". 
 IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 49 
 
(2) With respect to the method of indication of genetically modified agricultural products under 
Article 16 (3) of the Act, the methods in each of th e following subparagraphs shall be used to indicate 
such fact on the surface of the p acking and containers of relevant agricultural products, at the places 
of sale of relevant agricultural products, etc.:  1. It is to be marked in block letters  to be easily legible by the end users; 
2. It is to be marked in a readily noticeable spot; 
3. It is to be marked so as not to be easily erased or removed.  (3) Detailed matters for the criteria for and method of  indication of genetically modified agricultural 
products under paragraphs (1) and (2) may be determined and published by the Minister for Food, 
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. 
 (4) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry  and Fisheries may, if necessary for determining 
genetically modified agricultural products, designate a nd publish institutions to examine samples. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 
Article 27-2 (Inspection of Indications of Places of Origin, etc.)  (1) The regular collection or examination of agri cultural products or processed agricultural products 
subject to the indication of place of origin, etc., or  livestock products, rice and gimchi under the main 
sentence of Article 18 (1) of the Act shall be conducted once a year for business establishments 
meeting the criteria set by the Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, or Special 
Metropolitan City Mayor, Metropolitan City Mayors, Do Governors or Governors of Special Self- 
Governing Provinces (hereinafter referred to as "Ma yor/Do Governor") in consideration of the type 
and size of business, items and type of trade, etc. <Amended by Presidential Decree No. 21876, 
Dec. 14, 2009> 
 
(2) The regular collection or examination of agri cultural products subject to the indication of 
genetically modified agricultural product under the main  sentence of Article 18 (2) of the Act shall be 
conducted once a year for business establishments mee ting the criteria set by the Minister for Food, 
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in consideration of the type and size of business, items and type of 
trade, etc. <Amended by Presidential Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009> 
 
(3) Deleted. <by Presidential Decree No. 19279, Jan. 16, 2006>  (4) Matters necessary for the method, time, etc. of the regular collection and examination under 
paragraph (1) or (2) shall be determined by Ordina nce of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry 
and Fisheries. <Amended by Presidential Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009> 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 17674, Jul. 13, 2002] 
 Article 27-3 (Criteria, Methods, et c. of Orders for Announcement) 
 (1) Cases subject to orders for announcement under Ar ticle 18-2 (2) of the Act shall be those subject 
to a disposition pursuant to paragraph (1) of th e same Article and falling under any of the following 
subparagraphs:  1. Quantity in violation of indi cation: Not less than 100 tons; 
2. Amount obtained by converting the sale price of quantity in violation of indication: Not less than 
one billion won (in cases of processed agricultura l products, not less than two billion won);  
3. Number of times subject to dispositions for th e recent one year from the date of being found in 
contravention: Not less than twice.  (2) Any person that is subject to an order for announcement pursuant to Article 18-2 (2) of the Act 
shall, without delay, put an announcement in cluding the matters in each of the following IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 50  
  
subparagraphs on not less than one general daily newspapers register ed under Article 9 (1) of the Act 
on the Promotion of Newspapers, etc. and distri buted nationwide: <Amended by Presidential Decree 
No. 22003, Jan. 27, 2010>  1. Name, name of owner and address of enterprise; 
2. Names of agricultural products in violation; 
3. Details of violation;  4. Details of disposition.  (3) The Minister for Food, Agricu lture, Forestry and Fisheries or every Mayor/Do Governor shall, 
without delay, display the matters in each of the following subparagraphs on the Internet homepage of 
the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry an d Fisheries or relevant Cities/Dos pursuant to 
Article 18-2 (3) of the Act:   1. The headline "Announcement of the Fact of Viol ating the Agricultural Products Quality Control 
Act"; 
2. Kind of business; 3. Name and address of place of business; 4. Names of agricultural products in violation; 5. Details of violation; 6. Person holding authority to impose relevant dispositions, date and de tails of imposition of 
disposition. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 Article 28 (Agricultural Products Subject to Inspection, etc.)  
(1) The agricultural products subject to inspection un der Article 19 (1) of the Act are as mentioned in 
each of the following subparagraphs:   1. Agricultural products that the government purch ases, or the public institutions under Article 4 of 
the Act on the Management of Public Institutions or agriculture-related corporations, etc. (hereinafter 
referred to as "producers' organizations, et c.") purchase on behalf of the government; 
2. Agricultural products that the government expor ts or imports or producers' organizations, etc. 
export or import on behalf of the government; 3. Agricultural products that the government purchases or imports for processing; 4. Other agricultural products that the Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries deems 
necessary for the smooth distribution of agricultural products and publishes. 
 
(2) The items of agricultural products subject to inspection under paragraph (1) 1 through 3 by kind 
are as shown in attached Table 2. [This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 Article 29 (Qualification of Inspectors, etc.) 
 
(1) The qualification of the inspectors under Article 20 (1) of the Act (hereinafter referred to as 
"inspector") shall be granted according to the cat egories of grain, special products and general 
products, fruits, vegetables, seeds, silk yarn, etc.   
(2) Any person that falls under any of the following  subparagraphs and passes a screening test given 
by the director of the National Agricultural Pr oducts Quality Management Service (in cases of 
inspectors of silkworm eggs and cocoons, referring to  Mayors/Do Governors; hereafter the same shall 
apply in this Article) shall become an inspector:  IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
Page 51 
 
1. A public official who has engaged in businesses re lated to the inspection of agricultural products 
for not less than six months; 2. A person who has engaged in business related to the inspection of agricultural products in 
producers' organizations, etc. for not less than one year.  (3) The director of the National Agricultural Produc ts Quality Management Service may, when an 
inspector falls into any of the following grounds, can cel the qualification of the inspector concerned, 
or order the suspension of qualification, by fixing a period not longer than one year. In such cases, no person whose qualification is cancelled shall apply for the screening test under paragraph (2) unless 
one year passes from the date of cancellation:  
1. Where the inspector conducted extremely improper inspections to impair public confidence in 
inspections;  2. Where the inspector conducted illegal acts in connection with inspections. 
 (4) The director of the National Agricultural Prod ucts Quality Management Service may implement 
education for the inspection skills and improvement of quality of inspectors. 
 (5) Allowances may be paid to examiners particip ating in screening tests for the qualification of 
inspectors within budgetary limits.  (6) Matters necessary for the categories and method of screening tests for the qualification of the 
inspectors under paragraph (2), determination of su ccessful candidates, education of inspectors under 
paragraph (4), etc. shall be determined by Ordina nce of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry 
and Fisheries.  [This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 
Article 30 (Objects of Confirmation, Examination, Checking, etc.) 
 The term "agricultural products de termined by Presidential Decree,  such as agricultural products 
purchased or imported by the government" prescribed in  Article 25 (1) of the Act means those in each 
of the following subparagraphs:  
1. Agricultural products that the government purchases or imports;  
2. Agricultural products that producers' organizations, etc. purchase or import on behalf of the government;  3. Agricultural products that the governme nt purchases or imports for processing. 
 
Article 30-2 (Implementation Plan for Qualification Examination, etc.)  
 (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry a nd Fisheries shall formulat e an implementation plan 
for the agricultural product quality controller qualifi cation examination under Article 29-4 (1) of the 
Act (hereinafter referred to as "qualification examination").  
(2) The qualification examination sh all be conducted once a year, on condition that when the Minister 
for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries deems necessary for the supply and demand of 
agricultural product quality controllers, it  may be implemented every two years. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 
Article 30-3 (Method of Qualification Examination,  Examination Subjects and Criteria for Successful 
Candidates)  (1) The qualification examination shall be implem ented in two levels: Le vel 1 multiple-choice written 
examination and Level 2 practical skill examination. 
 IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
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1. Agricultural Products Quality Control Act and it s subordinate statues, and Acts and subordinate 
statues which pertain to the distribution and price stabilization of agricultural and fishery products; 
2. Introduction to horticulture science (including theories of quality control after harvest); 3. Theories of agricultural products distribution.  
(2) The examination subjects of Level 1 multiple-c hoice written examination shall be those in each of 
the following subparagraphs, and t hose who attain 40 points or abov e in each examination subject out 
of a perfect score of 100 points and reach 60 point s or above when averag ing the points of all 
examination subjects shall become successful candidates: ≪Enforcement Date: Jan. 1, 2011 ≫ 
 1. Agricultural Products Quality Control Act and it s subordinate statues, and Acts and subordinate 
statues which pertain to the distribution and price stabilization of agricultural and fishery products; 
2. Horticultural science; 3. Theories of agricultural products distribution; 4. Theories of quality control after harvest.  
(3) Level 2 practical skill examination shall be im plemented for the successful candidates of Level 1 
multiple-choice written examination with the exam ination subject of business practice necessary to 
conduct duties of agricultural product quality controller s, and those who attain 60 points or above out 
of the perfect score of 100 points shall become suc cessful candidates. In such cases, those who fail the 
Level 2 practical skill examination shall be exempted from the Level 1 multiple-choice written 
examination only in the immediately following examination. 
 
(4) With respect to an applicant who conducted illegal acts in connection with a qualification 
examination, the Minister for Food, Agriculture, Fo restry and Fisheries shall nullify the results of 
qualification examination concerned and suspend the applicant's qualification for applying for 
qualification examinations for two years from the date on which the qualification examination was 
held. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 Articles 30-4 and 30-5 Deleted. <by Presidential Decree No. 21087, Oct. 20, 2008>  
Article 30-6 (Publication of Qualification Examination, etc.) 
 (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forest ry and Fisheries shall, when implementing a 
qualification examination, publish necessary matte rs, such as qualifications for application, 
examination subjects, method of examination, crite ria for successful candidates, time and date of 
examination, place of examination, etc. in not l ess than two general daily newspapers which have 
registered the whole country as their distribution areas pursuant to Article 9 (1) of the Act on the 
Promotion of Newspapers, etc. 60 days prior to th e date of examination. <Amended by Presidential 
Decree No. 22003, Jan. 27, 2010>  (2) Any person that intends to apply for a qualifica tion examination shall submit an application form 
determined by Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to the Minister 
for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and any person that submits an application form shall 
pay fees as prescribed by Ordinance of the Ministry  for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. 
 (3) Except as otherwise provided for by Ordinance of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the fees under paragraph (2) shall not be  returned even when th e payer concerned does not 
take a qualification examination. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
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Article 30-7 (Announcement of Successful Candidates, etc.) 
 (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry a nd Fisheries shall determin e those who have passed 
the Level 2 practical skill examination under Artic le 30-3 (3) as the final successful candidates of 
qualification examinations and announce a lis t of their names through information and 
communications networks within 40 days from th e implementation of qualification examinations. 
 
(2) The Minister for Food, Agricu lture, Forestry and Fisheries shal l issue agricultural product quality 
controller's licenses to the final successful candidat es under paragraph (1), as prescribed by Ordinance 
of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.  [This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 
Article 31 (Payment of Rewards)  (1) The rewards under Article 30 of the Act shall be paid to those who report or inform offenses in 
violation of the indication of place of origin, etc.  under Article 15, 15-2, 16 or 17 of the Act to 
competent governmental offices or i nvestigative agencies, or arrest or  render assistance in arresting 
the offenders thereof within the scope not exceeding two million won.  (2) Criteria, method, procedure, etc. of the paymen t of reward under paragraph (1) shall be determined 
and published by the Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.  [This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 
Article 32 (Delegation of Authority)  (1) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shall delegate the authority in each of 
the following subparagraphs to the Director of the National Agricultural Products Quality 
Management Service pursuant to Article 34 (1 ) of the Act: <Amended by Presidential Decree 
No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009>  1. Operation of the subcommittee for deliberati on on the registration of geographical indications 
under Article 3 (6) of the Act; 2. Enactment, revision or abolishment of standa rds for agricultural products (excluding forest 
products) under Article 4 (1) of the Act; 
3. Dispositions, such as designation, cancellation of designation, and suspension of business of good 
agricultural practice-certifying institutions under Articles 6 and 6-2 of the Act; 
4. Dispositions, such designation, cancellation of designation, and suspension of business of good 
agricultural practice facilities under Articles 7 and 7-2 of the Act; 
5. Dispositions, such as registration, and cancellatio n of registration of agricultural traceability under 
Articles 7-5 and 7-6 of the Act; 6. Registration of geographical indications of ag ricultural products or pr ocessed agricultural products 
(excluding forest products) under Article 8 (1) of the Act; 7. Dispositions, such as post-management and corr ection of indication of geographical indication 
products, standard products, agricultural products w ith good agricultural practice certification, and 
agricultural traceability products of the agricultural products under Articles 8-7, 8-8, 10 and 11 of the 
Act: Provided, That dispositions, such as post-manage ment, correction of indication, etc. of forest 
products and processed agricultural products shall be excluded; 
8. Safety inspection (including collection of samples,  etc. under Article 13 of the Act) of agricultural 
products (excluding livestock products ) and their production materials, etc. under Article 12-2 of the 
Act and measures for the results of safety inspections under Article 14 of the Act; 
9. Dispositions, such as designation, cancellation of designation, and suspension of business of safety 
inspection institutions under Articles 14-2 and 14-3 of the Act; 10. Examination of actual state of noxious substances  that persist in agricultural products (excluding 
livestock products) under Article 14-6 (3) of the Act; IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
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11. Inspection of indication of places of origin of agricultural products, etc. and processed agricultural 
products and inspection of indicati on of genetically modified agricu ltural product under Article 18 of 
the Act; 12. Dispositions under paragraph (1) of Article 18-2 of the Act, order for announcement under 
paragraph (2) of the same Artic le, and announcement under paragr aph (3) of the same Article; 
13. Inspection of agricultural products under Artic le 19-1 of the Act (excluding inspections of 
agricultural products, silkworm seeds and silkworm  cocoons inspected by inspection institutions 
designated pursuant to Article 26 of the Act); 14. Confirmation, examination, checking, etc. under Article 25 of the Act; 15. Dispositions, such as designation, cancellation of designation, and suspension of business of 
inspecting institutions under Article 26; 
16. Examination of agricultural products and pro cessed agricultural products under Article 27 (1) of 
the Act; 17. Dispositions, such as designation, cancellation of  designation, and suspension of business of the 
examining institutions under Article s 27 (2) and 27-2 (1) of the Act; 
18. Commissioning and operation of the honorar y overseers of agricultural products under 
Article 29 (1) and (2) of the Act: Provided, That fo rest products and processed forest products shall be 
excluded; 19. Cancellation of qualification of agricultural pr oduct quality controllers un der Article 29-6 of the 
Act; 20. Formulation of implementation plan of qua lification examination under Article 30-2 (1); 
21. Issue of agricultural product qualify controller's license under Article 30-7 (2); 
22. Provisions of funds for the improvement of qua lify, facilitation of standardization, etc. under 
Article 31 (1) of the Act: Provided, That forest products and processed forest products shall be 
excluded; 23. Imposition and collection of fines for negligen ce under Article 38 (2) of the Act: Provided, That 
offenses under Article 10 (2) which relate to forest  products and processed forest products shall be 
excluded.  (2) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shall delegate the authorities in each of 
the following subparagraphs to the Administrato r of the Rural Development Adminstration under 
Article 34 (1) of the Act: <Amended by Pr esidential Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009> 
 
1. Publication of standards for good agricultural practices under Article 5 (1) of the Act; 2. Implementation of education on standards for goo d agricultural practices under Article 5 (1) of the 
Act.  
(3) The Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shall delegate the authorities, in each of 
the following subparagraphs, which relate to for est products and processed forest products to the 
Minister of the Korea Forest Service under Artic le 34 (1) of the Act: <Amended by Presidential 
Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009>  1. Enactment, revision or abolishment of standards under Article 4 (1) of the Act; 
2. Registration of geographical indications under Article 8 (1) of the Act; 
3. Dispositions, such as post-management, correcti on of indication, etc. of geographical indication 
products and standard products unde r Articles 8-7, 8-8, 10 and 11; 
4. Commissioning and operation of honora ry overseers under Article 29 of the Act; 
5. Provision of funds for the improvement of qua lity, facilitation of standardization, etc. under 
Article 31 (1) of the Act; 
6. Imposition and collection of fines for negligence unde r Article 38 (2) of the Act (limited to offenses 
under Article 10 (2) of the Act).  (4) The Minister for Food, Agricu lture, Forestry and Fish eries shall delegate matters concerning an 
inspection of silkworm seeds and silkworm cocoons, among the agricu ltural products under Article 19 IP/N/1/KOR/G/2 
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of the Act to Mayors/Do Governors pursuant to Ar ticle 34 (1) of the Act. <Amended by Presidential 
Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009>  (5) Deleted. <by Presidential Decree No. 17351, Sep. 1, 2001>  (6) The Director of the National Agricultural Pro ducts Management Service, Administrator of the 
Rural Development Administration and Minister of  the Korea Forest Serv ice shall, when re-
delegating part of the authority wh ich is delegated to them pursuant to paragraphs (1) through (3) to 
the heads of the institutions under their control pursu ant to the latter part of Article 6 (1) of the 
Government Organization Act, and publish the deta ils thereof. <Newly Inserted by Presidential 
Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009> 
 
Article 32-2 (Entrustment of Affairs)  (1) The Minister for Food, Agricu lture, Forestry and Fisheries sha ll entrust affairs concerning the 
operation of the agricultural product safety informa tion system under Article 28-2 (3) of the Act to a 
non-profit corporation which conduc ts agricultural information-related business determined and 
published by the Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries pursuant to Article 34 (2) of the Act.  (2) The Minister for Food, Agricu lture, Forestry and Fisheries sha ll entrust affairs concerning the 
management of qualification examinations to th e Human Resources Development Service of Korea 
under the Human Resources Development Service of Ko rea Act pursuant to Article 34 (2) of the Act. 
[This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009] 
 Article 33 (Criteria for Imposition of Fines for Negligence)  
Criteria for the imposition of the fines for neglig ence under Article 38 of the Act are as shown in 
attached Table 3. [This Article Wholly Amended by Preside ntial Decree No. 20908, Jul. 7, 2008] 
  ADDENDA 
 
Article 1 (Enforcement Date)  This Decree shall enter into force on July 1, 1999.  Article 2 (Repeal of Other Acts  and Subordinate Statutes)  
The Enforcement Decree of the Agricultural Produc ts Inspection Act shall be repealed hereby. 
 Article 3 (Transitional Measures con cerning Inspectors' Qualification) 
Inspectors of agricultural products as prescribed in Article 5 of the previous Enforcement Decree of 
Agricultural Products Inspection Act at the time this Decree enters into force shall be deemed to be 
qualified to inspect the relevant types of agricultu ral products as prescribed in Article 29 of this 
Decree. 
 Article 4 Omitted.  ADDENDA <Presidential Decree No. 17165, Mar. 27, 2001> 
 
Article 1 (Enforcement Date) This Decree shall enter in to force on March 29, 2001. 
 Article 2 Omitted. 
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ADDENDA <Presidential Decree No. 17230, May 29, 2001>  (1) (Enforcement Date) This Decree shall enter into force on the date of its promulgation. 
 (2) (Transitional Measures concerning Levy Criteria fo r Fines for Negligence) In applying the levy 
criteria for fines for negligence to the offenses committed before this Decree enters into force, the 
previous provisions shall govern.  ADDENDA <Presidential Decree No. 17242, Jun. 22, 2001>  
(1) (Enforcement Date) This Decree sha ll enter into force on July 1, 2001. 
 (2) through (4) Omitted.  ADDENDA <Presidential Decree No. 17351, Sep. 1, 2001> 
 
Article 1 (Enforcement Date) This Decree shall enter into force on September 1, 2001.  Articles 2 through 7 Omitted.  
ADDENDA <Presidential Decree No. 17674, Jul. 13, 2002> 
 (1) (Enforcement Date) This Decree sha ll enter into force on July 15, 2002. 
 (2) (Transitional Measures concerning Quality Certif ication) Agricultural products which received 
quality certification under the previous provisions at th e time this Decree ente rs into fore shall be 
deemed to have been granted quality certificati on under the amended provisions of Article 12. 
 (3) (Transitional Measures concerning Criteria on Im posing Fine for Negligence) Application of 
criteria on imposing fine for negligence to the viol ations committed before this Decree enters into 
force shall be governed by the previous provisions  notwithstanding the amended provisions of sub-
paragraph 3 (a) (i) of attached Table 3. 
 ADDENDUM <Presidential Decree No. 18071, Jul. 29, 2003> This Decree shall enter into for ce on the date of its promulgation. 
 
ADDENDUM<Presidential Decree No. 18312, Mar. 17, 2004> 
This Decree shall enter into for ce on the date of its promulgation. 
 ADDENDA<Presidential Decree No. 18594, Dec. 3, 2004>  Article 1 (Enforcement Date) 
This Decree shall enter into for ce on the date of its promulgation. 
 Articles 2 through 5 Omitted.  ADDENDUM <Presidential Decree No. 19279, Jan. 16, 2006> 
This Decree shall enter into for ce on the date of its promulgation. 
 ADDENDUM <Presidential Decree No. 20103, Jun. 26, 2007> This Decree shall enter in to force on June 29, 2007. 
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ADDENDA<Presidential Decree No. 20257, Sep. 10, 2007> 
 Article 1 (Enforcement Date) This Decree shall enter into for ce on the date of its promulgation. 
 Articles 2 through 4 Omitted. 
 
ADDENDA <Presidential Decree No. 20431, Dec. 6, 2007>  (1) (Enforcement Date) This Decree shall enter into force on the date of its promulgation. 
 
(2) (Transitional Measures concerning Qualifyi ng Examinations) Notwithstanding the amended 
provisions of Article 32-2 (2), the administration for qualifying examinations in the process at the 
time this Decree enters into force shall be governed by the previous provisions. 
 ADDENDA <Presidential Decree No. 20677, Feb. 29, 2008> 
 
Article 1 (Enforcement Date) This Decree shall enter into for ce on the date of its promulgation. 
 Articles 2 through 7 Omitted.  
ADDENDUM <Presidential Decree No. 20908, Jul. 7, 2008> 
This Decree shall enter into force on the date of its promulgation: Provi ded, That the amended 
provisions of Article 25-3 (1) 2 and 3 and (3) shall enter into force on December 22, 2008. 
 ADDENDA <Presidential Decree No. 21087, Oct. 20, 2008> 
 
Article 1 (Enforcement Date) This Decree shall enter into force on the da te of its promulgation. (Proviso Omitted.) 
 Articles 2 through 4 Omitted.  
ADDENDA <Presidential Decree No. 21676, Aug. 6, 2009> 
 Article 1 (Enforcement Date) This Decree shall enter into force on August 7, 2009. (Proviso Omitted.)  
Articles 2 through 5 Omitted. 
 ADDENDA <Presidential Decree No. 21805, Nov. 2, 2009>  Article 1 (Enforcement Date) This Decree shall enter into force on November 9, 2009: Provided, That the amended provisions of 
Article 25 (4) shall enter into force on July 1, 2010. 
 Article 2 (Applicability concerning Criter ia for Determining Places of Origin) 
The amended provisions of Article 25 (4) shall a pply, starting from the first agricultural product 
produced after the amended provisions of Article 25 (4) pursuant to the proviso to Article 1 of the 
Addenda. 
 ADDENDUM <Presidential Decree No. 21876, Dec. 14, 2009> This Decree shall enter into force on the date of its promulgation: Provi ded, That the amended 
provisions of Article 30-3 (2) of the Act sh all enter into force on January 1, 2011. 
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ADDENDA <Presidential Decree No. 22003, Jan. 27, 2010>  Article 1 (Enforcement Date) This Decree shall enter into  force on February 1, 2010. 
 
Articles 2 through 5 Omitted. 
 
__________