WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/KOR/337 
3 August 2009 
 (09-3772) 
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:  Ministry for Food, Agricultu re, Forestry and Fisheries 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item numbe r(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO;  ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Livestock products 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable: 
[X] All trading partners [ ] Specific regions or countries:    
5. Title of the notified document:  Proposed Amendments of the Processing of Livestock 
Products Act  Language:  Korean  Number of pages:  139 
6. Description of content:  The MIFAFF proposed the amendment of the "Processing of 
Livestock Products Act".  This draft reflects th e policies incorporated in livestock products 
safety initiatives such as extension of the scope of HACCP accreditation and mandatory 
periodic education for veterinary inspectors, and includes complementary measures against the defects in existing regulations, and change of the difficult terms used in the text into 
plain expressions: 
− Change of the title of the Act to "The Ac t on the Sanitary Management of Livestock 
Products"; 
− (1) Extending the scope of HACCP accredita tion for broadened application of HACCP 
throughout the entire process of production from farm to retail sales, particularly to 
include egg grading and packing centres, hatc heries, etc. and (2) introducing a new rule 
of unannounced audit system which will repl ace existing periodic audit system and will 
be enforced by national and/or provincial government; 
− Clearly defining an importer's obligation to declare imports to the Director General of 
National Veterinary Research and Quaran tine Service in case where the import is 
intended for further processing such as the ingredients for the importer's own products; 
− Clarifying the conditions and procedures fo r imposing and lifting an import suspension: 
• Import suspension may be placed on the livestock products from specific countries 
or regions from which the livestock products are identified or suspected to have hazard;  and G/SPS/N/KOR/337 
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   • Import suspension shall be lifted if the pr oducts are identified to have no health 
hazards or the health hazards are recognized  not to exist any longer or eliminated 
as a result of investigation into the source of hazards and corrective measures presented by either the importer or the government of exporting country. 
− Introducing several new rules on the designated private inspection laboratories, such as 
3-year terms of validity, restricted app lication for re-designation of the laboratories 
whose designation has been cancelled, and th e obligation on the laboratory personnel to 
be professionally trained every year; 
− Clarifying the specific procedures for busin ess closedown, which may be ordered by 
the government, to ensure its effectiveness; 
− Introducing the new provision to exempt from administrative punishment for the 
businesses that have appropriately implem ented recall procedures on domestic or 
imported hazardous livestock products;  and 
− Providing a new rule stipulating that the relevant authority itself may make an 
announcement on violation and order the busin ess to make its violation known to the 
public. 
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:  
[X] Codex Alimentarius Commission (e.g.  title or serial number of Codex standard 
or related text) CAC/GL26-1997 and others 
[ ] World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) (e.g. Terrestrial or Aquatic 
Animal Health Code, chapter number)    
[ ] International Plant Protection Convention (e.g. ISPM number)    
[ ] None Does this proposed regulation conform to the relevant international standard?   
 [X] 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:  Korean 
official government gazette, Ministry for Food , Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Notice 
No. 2009 (available in Korean) 
10. Proposed date of adoption (dd/mm/yy) :  To be determined (around December 2009). 
Proposed date of publication (dd/mm/yy) :  To be determined (around December 2009). 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  [X] Six months from date of publication , and/or  
(dd/mm/yy) :   
[ ] Trade facilitating measure  G/SPS/N/KOR/337 
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  12. Final date for comments:  [X] Sixty days  from the date of circulation of the 
notification and/or (dd/mm/yy) :  2 October 2009 
Agency or authority designated to handl e comments:  [ ] National Notification 
Authority, [ ] National Enquiry Point.  Address, fax number and e-mail address (if available) of other body:   
Food Safety & Sanitation Division 
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry 88, Gwanmunro, Gwacheon-city Gyeonggi-Do, 427-719 Republic of Korea 
Tel:  +(82) 2 500 2102 
Fax:  +(82) 2 503 0020 E-mail:  sjkim08@mifaff.go.kr 
13. Texts available from:  [ ] National Notification Authority, [ ] National Enquiry Point.  
Address, fax number and e-mail address (if available) of other body:    
Food Safety & Sanitation Division  
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry 
88, Gwanmunro, Gwacheon-city 
Gyeonggi-Do, 427-719 Republic of Korea Tel:  +(82) 2 500 2102 Fax:  +(82) 2 503 0020 
E-mail:  sjkim08@mifaff.go.kr