"Dairy products aren't included in this registration list this time, right? Then the fast track doesn't apply?"
A question from an official of Maeil Dairies(267980) at the "briefing session on the registration list for Chinese food exporters," held by the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety at 10 a.m. on the 11th at the National Food Safety Information service in Jung-gu, Seoul. The session was arranged to share with the industry the contents of the "memorandum of understanding (MOU) on food safety cooperation between the two countries" signed at the Jan. 5 summit between President Lee Jae-myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and to provide guidance on specific export support measures.
In response to the question from a Maeil Dairies official, the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety Assistant Deputy Director said, "With livestock products excluded from the fast-track items this time, dairy products were also left out," and added, "We need to consult with the Chinese side so that dairy products can also be included as items subject to list registration going forward."
With the introduction of this system, the factory registration process with China's General Administration of Customs, which previously took at least three months, will be improved starting today to a "fast track" under which the Korean government submits a verified list in bulk for review. If a food company registers its list through the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety's China export fast track, the registration period will be drastically shortened to around 10 business days. The existing registration procedure will remain in place.
Korea is the first in the world for the Chinese government to allow bulk registration of food companies through an agreement with a foreign government. The applicable items are 11 government-managed categories, including honey, health functional foods, edible vegetable oils and fats, and wheat flour products containing beef, and 14 privately managed categories, including beverages, confectionery, alcoholic beverages, and seasonings.
Korea's annual food exports to China amount to 2.5 trillion won. Reflecting this scale, the briefing session drew about 40 attendees, filling the venue with officials from major domestic food corporations such as CJ CheilJedang(097950), Orion(271560), and 동원F&B, as well as small and mid-size food company officials. Considering the high number of applicants, the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety also held the session online, and the number of online participants reportedly reached 80.
The most watched topic at the session was opening export channels for ramen. China had completely blocked imports of processed soup containing meat ingredients, forcing domestic ramen makers to operate separate production lines. As a result, Korean ramen was sold locally in China via small-scale traders. The Ministery of Food and Drug Safety said that if factory registration is simplified through this MOU, it expects an export support effect of about 370 billion won.
During the Q&A, a flurry of questions came on detailed scopes by item. When a Dongwon F&B official asked, "Can rabokki, which we are developing exclusively for export, be registered immediately?" a Ministery of Food and Drug Safety official answered, "For now, the targets are products that meet the definition of Korean ramen, and we plan to consult with the Chinese side to expand the scope to similar noodle types such as spaghetti or rabokki."
On the other hand, the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety drew a line on applying the meat exception to general foods other than ramen. In response to a question about the possibility of exporting health functional foods containing meat from companies that produce herbal ingredients such as deer antler, red ginseng, and garlic juice, the ministry said, "This exception clause is limited only to ramen containing 3% or less meat, and products with high meat content such as deer antler or black goat, or health functional foods, are subject to the existing strict regulations." It added, "For health functional foods, it is more practical to attempt factory and product registration by classifying them as beverage types instead of health foods, which involve complex procedures."
After the summit, the two countries held Director General-level consultations in the first half, added relevant provisions to Chinese regulations in June, and signed the detailed rules at the APEC meeting on Aug. 20. As the administrative procedures have all been completed, the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety began accepting formal list registrations from today through the "Food Safety Korea" website.
Park Jae-woo, a veterinarian at the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety's Food Safety Policy Bureau, said, "As this is the first time the Chinese authorities are implementing the system, there may be initial confusion, but the administrative procedures will proceed much faster and more conveniently than when corporations applied directly in the past."
Lee Jae-yong, head of the National Food Safety Information service, said, "As the scale of food exports expands, it is also important to accurately understand and respond to the food safety systems and procedures of importing countries," adding, "The National Food Safety Information service will spare no practical support to ensure the list registration system operates smoothly."