. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/KOR/204 
17 February 2009  
 (09-0795) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  REPUBLIC OF KOREA
 
If applicable, name of local governme nt involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):     
2. Agency responsible:  Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MIFAFF) 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above :   
Government Complex 2 
88 Gwanmun-Ro Gwacheon City, Gyeonggi-Do Republic of Korea Tel.: 82 2 500 1877 
Fax.: 82 2 504 6659 
E-mail: bcd@mifaff.go.kr  
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [ X ], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other:   
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):   
Certifying organic processed foods. 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   
Ministerial Enforcement Regula tion for Food Industry Promotion Act, Notification of the 
MIFAFF number 2008-116 and 2008-120 (available in Korean).  
6. Description of content:   
Certifying organic processed f oods is for the purpose of im proving the quality of organic 
processed foods, encouraging their production, and protecti ng their consumers. Based on 
Article 23 of the Food Industry Promotion Act (established 28 June 2008) the MIFAFF shall 
set one year for the term of validity  of certified organi c processed foods.  
If those who are seeking to import or distribute organic food belonging to the following, they 
are allowed to use certif ied organic food labelling. 
Manufacturers in importing nati ons, which are issued the certificates of organic processed 
food by MIFAFF guaranteed certification agencies (including foreign agencies). 
The Orders of the MIFAFF shall provide the proc edures and criteria for the certification of 
organic processed foods, the ki nds of and the selection crit eria for permitted organic G/TBT/N/KOR/204 
Page 2  
 
substances, the criteria for handling organic foods , and regular examinations to confirm if the 
criteria for certifying organic processed foods ar e observed or not. The ce rtification of organic 
processed foods shall be valid for one year and the period can be extended; and a regular 
examination shall be conducted each year af ter the first certification of the foods.  
To specify the guidelines the MIFAFF a nnounced ‘the guidelines for designating and 
operating fine food cer tification agencies’ [N otification of the MIFAFF number 2008-116 
(19 December 2008)]. 
Moreover, details for e fficient operation of the organic processed foods certification system 
are found in ‘the operational guidelines for th e organic processed foods certification system’ 
[Notification of the MIFAFF number 2008-120 (19 December 2008)]. The guidelines 
comprise the scope of the application of th e certification system, the criteria for the 
certification and handling and the labelling of the certification. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable:   
To prevent deceptive practices.  
8. Relevant documents:    
Presidential Decree for F ood Industry Promotion Act No. 15 (notified 28 June 2008) was 
published in the Korean Official  Gazette No. 16780, 27 June 2008, p.25, and is also available 
at:  
http://gwanbo.korea.go.kr/upload/2008/06/0627000000.pdf  
Guidelines for Designating and Operating Fi ne Food Certification Agencies No. 2008-116 
(notified 19 December 2008) was published in  the Korean Offici al Gazette No. 16902, 
19 December 2007, p.236, and is also available at: 
http://gwanbo.korea.go.kr/upload/2008/12/1219000000.pdf  
Guidelines for Operational Guidelines for th e Organic Processed Food Certification Systems 
No. 2008-120 (notified 19 December 2008) was p ublished in the Korean  Official Gazette 
No. 16902, 19 December 2008, p.238, and is also available at:  
http://gwanbo.korea.go.kr/upload /2008/12/1219000000.pdf   
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:   }  28 June 2008 
  1 January 2010 
10. Final date for comments:   
Any comments will be received within 60  days from the date of notification. 
11. Text available from: National enquiry po int [ X], or address, telephone and fax 
numbers, e-mail and web-site addres ses, if available of the other body:    
Consumer Information and Food Safety Team 
Ministry for Food, Agricultur e, Forestry and Fisheries 
Tel  :     (+82) 2 500 2196 
Fax :     (+82) 2 503 7277 E-mail:  ehwang@mifaff.go.kr