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Selling consumer products in South Korea

In South Korea, product law is national. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) covers food, supplements, cosmetics and food contact articles. KATS, under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, covers electrical, consumer and children's products. Chemicals and packaging recycling sit with the environment ministry, radio equipment with the RRA, and feed with MAFRA.

Updated · Each section links to the official source it comes from

Food, supplements, cosmetics
Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS)
Electrical, consumer and children's products
KATS, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources
Radio equipment
National Radio Research Agency (RRA)
Household chemicals and K-REACH
Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment
Pet food and feed
Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA)
Alcohol
Liquor Tax Act and Liquor License Act, through tax offices
Label language
Korean, under several Acts

By product

What each kind of product has to meet in South Korea.

Before a product goes on sale

The questions to answer, in the order they usually come up.

  1. 1Which product class is it, and which ministry covers it? Read more
  2. 2If it is food, a supplement or a food contact item, is the foreign facility registered with MFDS? Read more
  3. 3If it is a cosmetic, who is the responsible cosmetic distributor? Read more
  4. 4If it is an electrical, consumer or children's product, which safety tier applies? Read more
  5. 5Does it contain chemicals or packaging that bring environment ministry duties? Read more

The rules, by area

What each area covers, the texts that set it, and what the official pages say.

How Korean product rules work

National Acts, each naming a minister, with local government handling many licences.

  • Each Act names the minister in charge and is detailed by Presidential Decrees, Ministerial or Prime Ministerial Decrees and public notices.
  • Business entities have a general duty to manufacture or distribute safe products and verify their safety (Article 4(4), Framework Act on the Safety of Products).
  • Many Acts require labels in Korean: the Cosmetics Act allows Chinese characters and foreign languages alongside Korean (Article 12), and the consumer chemical products rules require the Korean text to be larger.
  • Official English translations of the Acts are published by the Korea Legislation Research Institute; the guides cite those translations.

How we help: Compliant Always shows which of these Acts apply to your product, and keeps the documents behind each one ready. Ask about this

Food, supplements, cosmetics and food contact (MFDS)

Products regulated by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

  • Food, food additives, food contact apparatus, containers and packages meet MFDS standards and specifications (Articles 7 and 9, Food Sanitation Act).
  • Labels and adverts follow the Act on Labeling and Advertising of Foods.
  • Imported food, health functional foods and food contact items need foreign facility registration, then an import declaration and inspection for each consignment (Special Act on Imported Food Safety Control).
  • Health functional foods use ingredients MFDS has notified or recognised (Health Functional Foods Act).
  • Cosmetics are placed on the market by a registered responsible cosmetic distributor, who reports the bill of materials before sale (Cosmetics Act).

How we help: Compliant Always keeps registrations, declarations and test reports with each product and lot, dated. Ask about this

Electrical, consumer and children's products (KATS)

Safety tiers set by Ministerial Decree.

  • Electrical appliances and consumer products fall into safety certification, safety verification, supplier's declaration of conformity or, for some consumer products, compliance with safety standards (Electrical Appliances and Consumer Products Safety Control Act).
  • Products for children not over 13 have their own three tiers (Special Act on the Safety of Children's Products).
  • Radio and EMC equipment also needs conformity assessment (Article 58-2, Radio Waves Act).

How we help: Compliant Always records the tier for each model and keeps its certificate, test report or declaration with it. Ask about this

Chemicals, packaging and e-waste

Duties under the environment ministry.

  • Designated household chemical products are verified against safety standards before manufacture or import (Consumer Chemical Products and Biocides Safety Control Act).
  • Chemical substances manufactured or imported at 1 tonne or more a year are registered (Article 10, K-REACH).
  • Producers of prescribed products and packaging recover and recycle the waste or pay contributions (Article 16, Act on the Promotion of Saving and Recycling of Resources).
  • Listed electrical and electronic equipment has hazardous substance limits and take-back duties (Act on Resource Circulation of Electrical and Electronic Equipment and Vehicles).

How we help: Compliant Always keeps substance registrations, verifications and recycling evidence with each product. Ask about this

Who answers for what

WhoWhat they answer forHow we help
BrandThe product sold under its name, its label and its claims.The Acts that apply, with the documents behind each, in one place.
Manufacturer, including a foreign manufacturerMaking the product to the standards, and the tests and certificates that show it.Specifications, test reports and certificates ready for each customer's form.
ImporterRegistrations, import declarations and conformity routes for imported products.Suppliers' documents read and dated before the goods arrive.
Seller or online platformSelling only labelled, marked products, and removing unmarked children's products.The documents each product needs, shown when a buyer asks.

National ministries and local government

Product law in South Korea is national. Each Act names the minister in charge, such as the Minister of Food and Drug Safety for food and cosmetics, and the Minister of Trade, Industry and Resources for electrical, consumer and children's products.

Many licences, reports and inspections under those Acts are handled by a Mayor or Do Governor or the head of a Si/Gun/Gu, so the local office named in the Act is often the one a business deals with.

Questions businesses ask

Who regulates food and cosmetics in South Korea?
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), under the Food Sanitation Act, the Act on Labeling and Advertising of Foods, the Health Functional Foods Act and the Cosmetics Act.
Who regulates product safety in South Korea?
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, through KATS, under the Electrical Appliances and Consumer Products Safety Control Act, the Children's Products Act and the Framework Act on the Safety of Products.
Who regulates household chemicals?
The environment ministry, under the Consumer Chemical Products and Biocides Safety Control Act and K-REACH. Dishwashing and produce detergents are MFDS cleansing and hygiene products.
Who regulates radio equipment?
The Minister of Science and ICT, with conformity assessment run through the National Radio Research Agency (Article 58-2, Radio Waves Act).
Who regulates pet food?
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, under the Control of Livestock and Fish Feed Act, with registrations handled by the Mayor/Do Governor.
How is alcohol regulated?
Through the Liquor Tax Act and the Liquor License Act, with licences from the competent tax office. Alcoholic drinks are also beverages under food law.
Do labels have to be in Korean?
Many Acts require it. Cosmetics statements are in Korean characters, with Chinese and foreign scripts allowed; designated chemical products are labelled in Korean, larger than other languages.
Do I register a foreign food factory?
Yes. The foreign food facility is registered with MFDS before the import declaration, for two years (Article 5, Special Act on Imported Food Safety Control).
How does Compliant Always help with selling in South Korea?
Our team reads the rules for the markets you sell in, from Korean law and the regulators' own pages. Compliant Always shows which apply to your product, keeps the documents behind each one ready, and watches the sources for changes. It shows what the requirements say and what your documents show; you decide.

Sources

Compliant Always is a product of Lettuce Labs LLC. It shows what requirements say and what your documents show. It is not legal advice, and you decide.

Tell us what you make, and we will show you the rules for it.

Name the product and the markets you sell in. We will come back to you with what applies in South Korea and what your paperwork needs to show.

Get in touch

No card, no account, and no call to book. Tell us what you make and where you sell it, and we will come back to you.

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