WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/KOR/335 
13 July 2009  
 (09-3407) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
 
 
 
NOTIFICATION  
 
1. Notifying Member:  REPUBLIC OF KOREA  
If applicable, name of local government involved:    
2. Agency responsible:  Korea Food and Drug Administration 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where applicable):  Food additives 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable: 
[ X ] All trading partners, or [   ] Specific regions or countries:    
5. Title of the notified document:  Proposed Amendments to the Standards and 
Specifications for Food Additives  Language:  Korean  Number of pages:  194 
6. Description of content:  The proposed regulation establishes and revises compositional 
specifications for 80 food additives. 
(1) Specifications for lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic are strengthened or established 
in the following 80 compounds: 
Disodium 5'-guanylate, citric acid, trisodium citrate, potassium citrate,  calcium citrate, 
silicone resin, glucono- δ-lactone, calcium gluconate, monosodium L-glutamate, 
glycerin, glycerin esters of fatty acids, glycine, sodium copper chlorophyllin, butylated 
hydroxyl toluene, disodium 5'-ribonucleotide, calcium 5'-ribonucleotide, D-maltitol, sodium metaphosphate, potassium metaphos phate, potassium metabisulfite, methyl 
cellulose, propyl gallate, butylated hydroxyl anisole, riboflavin, riboflavin 5'-phosphate 
sodium, L-ascorbic acid, dl-α- tocopherol, glacial acetic acid, DL-malic acid, sodium 
DL-malate, sodium saccharin, sodium bi sulfite, disodium di hydrogen pyrophosphate, 
D-sorbitol, sorbic acid, potassium sorbate, sodium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide, 
annatto (water soluble), sodium stearoyl lactylate, calcium stearoyl lactylate, L-cystein monohydrochloride, food green No. 3, food green No. 3 aluminium lake, food red No. 2, food red No. 2 aluminium lake, food re d No. 3, food red No. 40, food red No. 40 
aluminium lake, food blue No. 1, food blue No. 1 aluminium lake, food blue No. 2, 
food blue No. 2 aluminium lake, food yellow No. 4, food yellow No. 4 aluminium lake, 
food yellow No. 5, food yellow No. 5 alumin ium lake, sodium silicoaluminate, adipic 
acid, sodium L-ascorbate, ascorbyl palmita te, aspartame, azodicarbonamide, sodium 
nitrite, β-apo-8'-carotenal, sodium sulfite, benz oic acid, sodium benzoate, sodium 
alginate, propylene glycol alginate, eryt horbic acid, sodium erythorbate, ester gum, 
hydrochloric acid, chlorine, magnesium chloride, ammonium chloride, potassium G/SPS/N/KOR/335 
Page 2  
 
   chloride, calcium chloride, disodium 5'-inosinate. 
(2) Microbiological criteria are established for two items: 
Sodium alginate, propylene glycol alginate. 
(3) Specifications for residual solvents in so dium copper chlorophyllin are established. 
(4) Specifications for fluoride are established in the following four items: 
Calcium citrate, potassium metaphosphate , calcium hydroxide, calcium chloride. 
(5) Specifications for unsulfonated primary aromatic amines are established in the 
following seven substances: 
Riboflavin, riboflavin 5'-phospha te sodium, food green No. 3, food red No. 2, food blue 
No. 1, food blue No. 2, food yellow No. 4. 
Definition of trisodium citrate is revised. 
The term "MSG" which is the synonym for monosodium L-glutamate is deleted from the 
Standards and Specifications for Food Additives. 
In the General Test Methods of Food Additiv es Code, coloring matter test and coloring 
matter aluminium lake test are revised.  
7. Objective and rationale:  [ X ] food safety, [   ] animal health, [   ] plant protection, [  
 ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [   ] protect territory from other 
damage from pests.    
8. Is there a relevant international stan dard?  If so, identify the standard:  
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission (e.g.  title or serial number of Codex standard 
or related text)    
[   ] World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) (e.g. Terrestrial or Aquatic 
Animal Health Code, chapter number)     
[   ] International Plant Protection Convention (e.g.  ISPM N°)     
[ X ] None Does this proposed regulation conform to the relevant international standard?   
 [   ] Yes   [   ] No 
 If no, describe, whenever possible, how and why it deviates from the 
international standard:    
9. Other relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  The Korea 
Food and Drug Administration Advance Notice No. 2009-184, 6 July 2009 (available in 
Korean) 
10. Proposed date of adoption (dd/mm/yy) :  To be determined.  
Propose date of publication ( dd/mm/yy) :  To be determined.  G/SPS/N/KOR/335 
 Page 3 
 
 
  11. Proposed date of entry into force:  [   ] Six months from date of publication , and/or  
(dd/mm/yy) :  To be determined. 
[   ] Trade facilitating measure  
12. Final date for comments: [   ] Sixty days from the date of circulation of the 
notification and/or ( dd/mm/yy ):  4 September 2009 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [ X ] National Notification 
Authority, [   ] National Enquiry Point.  Address, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body:    
International Trade & Statistics Office 
Korea Food and Drug Administration #194 Tongilro, Eunpyeong-gu Seoul, 122-704 Korea 
Tel:  +(82 2) 380 1661 
Fax:  +(82 2) 356 2893 E-mail:  wtokfda@korea.kr 
13. Texts available from:  [ X ] National Notification Authority, [   ] National Enquiry 
Point.  Address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:    
Documents are available from the Korea Food and Drug Administration website at 
http://www.kfda.go.kr .  Also available from:  
International Trade & Statistics Office 
Korea Food and Drug Administration #194 Tongilro, Eunpyeong-gu Seoul, 122-704 Korea 
Tel:  +(82 2) 380 1661 
Fax:  +(82 2) 356 2893 E-mail:  wtokfda@korea.kr