Korea - Strengthen preemptive safety management of imported food
The Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety carried out a due diligence in 2017 for 406 overseas manufacturing facilities in exporting countries that export food to Korea.
As a result, import suspension was made for 55 places. This is more than three times that of 2016.
The major reasons for non-compliance are poor hygiene of raw materials and sub-materials, insufficient hygiene management such as washing and disinfection of food machinery and equipment, insect inspections such as insects and rats in the workplace. The nonconformities were kimchi, processed fruits, poultry, other processed products, pork, processed spices, and functional foods.
For reference, the MFDS currently manages 68,473 foreign manufacturing establishments in 177 countries. By country, there are 16,775 (24%) in China, 12,318 in the United States (18%), 4,585 in Japan (7%), France 3,663 (5%), Italy 3,131 (5%), Vietnam 2,030 1,726 in Chile (3%), 1,550 in Thailand (2%), 1,584 in Spain (2%) and 1,497 in Germany (2%).
