South Korea and China streamline food-safety procedures for exports
South Korea and China have agreed on measures covering producer registration, meat-containing instant noodles and electronic seafood health certificates. The Korea Food Industry Association expects faster market access, lower administrative costs and more efficient production for Korean exporters.
Cooperation document targets trade barriers
South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and China’s General Administration of Customs have signed a food-safety cooperation document intended to resolve practical obstacles facing food exporters. The agreement was concluded on August 20 in Dalian, China, on the sidelines of the 2026 APEC Customs-Business Dialogue, according to the Korea Food Industry Association.
The association welcomed the document as a practical outcome of the South Korea-China food-safety cooperation memorandum signed in January. It covers three areas: registration of South Korean food producers seeking access to China, sanitary requirements for instant noodles containing meat ingredients, and electronic health certificates for traded seafood.
Producer registration could fall to about 10 days
Under the revised registration process, applications submitted through South Korea’s Food Safety Korea integrated portal and reviewed by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety will be recognized. Exporters previously had to apply individually to the Chinese authorities. The new centralized process will permit consolidated review and approval for companies seeking registration.
For general food products excluding livestock products, the association expects registration time to fall from about three months to approximately 10 days. It estimates that delays in the existing system have generated losses of about 370 billion won annually. Shorter processing times could help companies enter the Chinese market sooner, although the source did not provide an implementation timetable or estimate how much of the projected loss would be eliminated.
Meat-containing noodles gain a route to China
The two governments also agreed on sanitary conditions for South Korean instant noodles containing meat ingredients. Such products had been barred even when they contained only a small quantity of meat because of concerns about animal diseases. Exports will now be allowed when manufacturers use meat sourced from countries recognized by China and meet applicable heat-treatment and other sanitary standards.
The Korea Food Industry Association said the change could allow manufacturers to export the same products sold domestically instead of maintaining China-specific formulations and separate production lines. That could raise factory efficiency and reduce costs. The commercial benefit will depend on manufacturers’ ability to document the origin of meat inputs and demonstrate compliance with China’s processing requirements.
Seafood certificates move online
South Korea and China will replace paper health certificates for imported and exported seafood with electronic certificates exchanged through linked government systems. The association expects the measure to accelerate customs clearance, strengthen protection against certificate alteration and forgery, and save about 3 billion won a year in associated costs, including international postage.
The association plans to work with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to inform member companies about the revised registration procedure and the detailed sanitary conditions for noodle exports. Association chairman Park Jin-sun said complex registration requirements, restrictions on meat ingredients and paper-based certification had imposed substantial costs and delays on businesses. The changes are expected to benefit large producers as well as small and midsized food companies seeking faster and more predictable access to China.