Organic in South Korea

Thanks to the agreement of mutual equivalence with EU, South Korea isone of the equivalent countries that permit import and export of certified organic products

How the certification in South Korea works

The agreement in particular includes the aknowledgment from the EU of processed organic products certified in South Korea with the following conditions:

• the agreement covers the processed agrifood products intended to be used
• the food products containing minimum 95% of organic ingredients
• the Organic Ingredients need to come from South Korea or they have to be imported in South Korea from third countries recognized as equivalent
• the last prosessing has to happen in South Korea
• the Korean organic products need to be certified by a Certification Body (listed in the attachment III of the EC Reg 1235/08)
• the label on the product need to be compliant to European laws in the matter of Organic products labelling
• it is possible to use in the label the European Organic logo, the Korean Organic logo or both
• for each exportation the product has to be accompained by an audit certificate released by a recognized Certification Body. You can find it here

Exporting in South Korea

The equivalence is mutual. Therefore South Korea aknowledges the Organic processed products certified in the EU, with the following specifications:

• the agreement covers the agriculture processed products aimed to be used as food containing 95% minimum of Organic Ingredients
• The Organic Ingredients need to come from the EU or to be imported in the EU
• the last process needs to take place in the EU
• the European Organic products need to be certified by a designed Certification Body in compliance with Art. 27 of EC Regulation 834/2007.
• The product label need to be compliant to the Korean legal dispositions for the Organic Products labelling.
• it is possible to use in the label the European Organic logo, the Korean Organic logo or both
• for each exportation the product has to be accompained by an audit certificate compliant to the Korean regulation (NAQS import certificate, click here to download the PDF)

In order to export in South Korea the non processed food(part of any other category A, B, C, E, F), it is though necessary to get the certification in compliance with the Korean legislation for each of the subjects involved in the supply chain. CCPB is able to offer this certification service to the operators interested, thanks to the agreement with Konkuk Ecocert Certification Service, certification body recognized by the South Korean Agriculture Ministry.

Below you can find the EU Regulation 2015/131,the official notice and some FAQs redacted by the European Union. For further informations you can contact our offices ccpb@ccpb.it