Korea, China sign food safety pacts to ease exports

Front row, from left: South Korean Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, South Korean Food and Drug Safety Minister Oh Yu-kyoung, and Sun Meijun, director general of China's General Administration of Customs, attend signing ceremonies for agreements on the establishment of a commercial cooperation dialogue and on food safety cooperation, respectively, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday. (Yonhap)

South Korea and China have agreed to deepen cooperation on food trade and safety, easing export procedures and bolstering safety protocols to provide Korean exporters with easier access to the Chinese market.

Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on Monday announced two memorandums of understanding were signed with China’s General Administration of Customs — one on food safety collaboration and the other on hygiene standards for natural seafood products — during a summit between President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

China remains Korea’s second-largest food trade partner, with bilateral food trade totaling $9.01 billion in 2024.

The agreement on food safety includes provisions for sharing regulations and safety information, cooperating on inspections, registering export facility lists, and exchanging technical expertise. It also enables the Drug Ministry to request batch registration of Korean food exporters with Chinese authorities, simplifying and accelerating factory approval processes for exporters.

On the seafood hygiene front, the agreement includes cooperation on facility management, sanitary certification and the handling of non-compliant imports to ensure the safety of seafood trade between the two countries. Newly registered Korean seafood exporters will be exempt from initial hygiene evaluations, streamlining market entry for Korean seafood products.

“This agreement marks a tangible outcome of the Korea-China summit’s commitment to food safety cooperation,” said Oh Yu-kyoung, Minister of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. “We’ll continue building international partnerships to boost the global reach of K-food.”

The ministry stated that it would continue to enhance collaboration with regulatory bodies in key export destinations to ease non-tariff barriers and offer sustained policy support to further boost K-food’s global market expansion.