• Australia and Korea do not have a government-to-government (equivalency) arrangement in place for the trade in organic goods.
  
  
• Trade in organics between the two countries is facilitated by utilising approved certifiers, who are best placed to answer most questions regarding exporting organic products to Korea.
  
  
• Certifiers utilise conformity arrangements for export of organic goods from Australia to the Korean market. These are agreements between the individual Australian-based approved certifying body (ACB) and the Korean government regulators.
  
  
• Organic certification in Korea is required under the Act on the Promotion on Environment-Friendly Agriculture and Fisheries and the Management of and Support for Organic Foods (‘Korean Organic Food Act’), which sets out the Korean Organic Standard.
  
  
• The National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service (NAQS) under the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) is responsible for organic food and administers the Korean Organic Standard.
  
  
• The department strongly encourages exporters to verify import requirements for all organic goods with their importers prior to export.​

Scope

• The scope of organic products certified under the Korean Organic Food Act includes both raw and processed food. Alcoholic beverages such as wine, spirits and beer are also within scope.
  
  
• The department is not aware of any specific exclusions to the Korean Organic Standard.​

Use of certifiers

• The Korean Organic Standard requires all domestic and imported organic produce and processed products to be certified by a MAFRA-accredited certifier.
  
  
• Organic certification aims to ensure that products that are marketed as organic meet specific standards and criteria.
  
  
• To this end, the certification process involves a thorough evaluation of the organic operator’s whole supply chain.
  
  
• Organic operators who wish to export to Korea must therefore employ the services of a MAFRA-accredited certifier.
  
  
• A list of Australian-government approved local certifiers may be found here (however, not all of these may offer certification services for the Korean market, organic operators are responsible for making their own enquiries).

Use of NAQS import certificates

• Each shipment of organic agricultural products imported into Korea must be accompanied by an NAQS Import Certificate.
  
  
• This certificate is issued by the certifier to attest that organic foods for exporting to Korea were produced under equivalent requirements and standards to those of the Republic of Korea.
  
  
• Export documents must be lodged by the certifier in Korea’s e-NAQS system prior to the shipment leaving Australian territory.
  
  
• Exporters should submit export documents to certifiers in a timeframe sufficiently prior to departure, as per the advice from certifiers. This provides adequate time for:
  
  
  • certifiers to review documents,
    
    
  • exporters to correct any issues found with the documents,
    
    
  • certifiers to verify the foods as being organic and eligible for export.
  
  
• In cases where, due to unforeseen circumstances, it is not possible for the exporter to provide these documents to the certifier sufficiently prior to departure, the exporter should contact the certifier immediately to discuss.

Labelling

• The MAFRA Korea Organic label is the Republic of South Korea's official national organic seal for organic products and is issued by MAFRA.
  
  
• The MAFRA Korea Organic label is optional. The logo can be obtained from a certifier.
  
  
• Organic operators using the MAFRA Korea Organic label are strongly advised to work with their importer to ensure compliance to the Korean labelling laws.
  
  
• The logo to be used is as per below:
  
  
  
  
• The label must also indicate the following:
  Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA)
  Environmentally Friendly Agriculture Division
  Director: Kim Wan-su,
  Deputy Director: Park Sang-hee
  T: +82-44-201-2435 W:
  www.mafra.go.kr/english

Prohibition on use of phrase ‘100% Organic’

• The ‘100% Organic’ phrase or claims are prohibited. Products containing 100% organic ingredients may be labelled as ‘organic.’

Only products with 95% or more organic content may be labelled as organic in Korea

• Products must have a minimum 95 per cent of organic ingredients to be labelled as ‘organic’ or ‘organic processed food’ in Korea.
  
  
• The Korean organic logo may be used on products certified to the Korean organic standards. The logo can be obtained from a certifier.
  
  
• Korea does not have a ‘made with’ labelling category. Only products with 95% or more organic content may be labelled as organic in Korea. ‘Made with organic…’ products cannot be represented as organic in Korea or have any organic claims, including the statement ‘Certified organic by…’

Certifier Identification

• The organic operator ’s accredited certifier must be identified on the label, by name or seal.

Labelling requirements regarding non-organic ingredients

• All organic products sold in Korea are required to comply with labelling requirements including:
  
  
  • products containing non-organic ingredients must display a percentage statement. The total percentage of organic ingredients or the percentage of each ingredient used in the product must be indicated in the ingredients list,
    
    
  • non-organic ingredients must not be used as part of the product name.

Apiary products

• The Korean Organic Standard has a specific set of provisions specific to organic apiary products.

Wine

• Organic wine is within the scope of certification under the Korean Organic Food Act.
  
  
• However organic operators may wish to enquire as to labelling with respect to geographical indicators. For example, it is understood that “prosecco” may have legal protection as a geographical indication (GI) in this market. Australian organic operators may therefore be prohibited from exporting Australian wine described and presented as “Prosecco” to Korea.
  
  
• The Korean Agricultural and Fishery Products Quality Control Act includes provisions governing country of origin marks and GI.

Prohibitions

• ​Prohibited substances and methods include most synthetic pesticides, irradiation, and genetically modified organisms. Korean organic regulations allow antibiotics only to treat infected animals.​

• There is no in-conversion label under the Korean Standards – in-conversion products cannot be sold as either ‘in-conversion’ or ‘organic.’
  
  
• Conversion periods are as follows:
  
  
  1. a) perennial crops – a period of three years before the first harvest,
     
     
  2. b) crops other than (a) and grasses – a period of two years before sowing or reforestation,
     
     
  3. c) ​livestock – varies by type of animal.
  
  
• The conversion period starts from the time when the supervision of the certification body is started.