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Overseas

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OverseasOverseas Organic Foods

Overseas Organic Foods

1. Overview of Overseas Organic Foods

1) Even if the product is certified by a foreign certification system (USDA, JAS, EU, etc.) and it is not certified according to the Korean national law, or if the product is not processed food from a country which is recognized as equivalent it is prohibited to use the Korean organic mark or similar kinds of marks on the product.
(Effective January 1, 2014)

2) What are the procedures to get organic food certifications using raw materials produced overseas?

- (When agricultural products are used as raw materials)
Overseas production farms must be certified as organic agricultural/livestock products according to Korean laws, and overseas or domestic processing plants that process these products must also be certified as organic processed foods according to Korean Laws.

- (When processed food is used as raw material)
Overseas production farms that produce raw materials must be certified as organic agricultural/livestock products according to Korean laws, and the first processing plant and the finished product processing plant that processes these products should be certified as organic processed foods. However, when the first processing plant is located overseas and the organic processed food is noticed as a requirement for domestic imports by the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Korean certification may be replaced by foreign certificates. Even in this case, domestic or overseas final product processing plants must be certified as organic processed food according to Korean laws.

3) What is the equivalence recognition system of organic processed food?

If it is verified that the organic food certification system implemented in foreign countries operates with the certification system equal to or higher than the legal certification as Korea by applying the same principles and standards, the governments of both countries officially acknowledges that the certification of organic processed food is equivalent to that of its own country and will apply the reciprocal principles.

- The equivalence recognition system will take effect on January 1, 2014, and it will take a considerable amount of time to verify the certification system.

- Once the agreement for recognition of equivalence is concluded, it will be posted on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Center.

※ Certification Process, Application Method, Post Management

It is applied according to domestic laws, Therefor it will be carried out according to the certification process, application method and post management of domestic eco-friendly agricultural/livestock products and organic processed products certification methods.