South Korea's Feed Management Act: feed import declaration and labeling
Korea's Feed Management Act (μ¬λ£κ΄λ¦¬λ²) is the statutory basis for pet-food import registration and labelling. Two articles matter most: Article 19 (feed import declaration) and Article 13 (labelling items).
Article 19 β feed import declaration etc.
- (1) An importer who intends to import feed designated by the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA, λλ¦ΌμΆμ°μνλΆμ₯κ΄) must report to the Minister under the procedure prescribed by MAFRA Ordinance.
- (2) Where there is a reason prescribed by MAFRA Ordinance β such as assurance of feed safety or supply-demand stability β the Minister must have the relevant public official perform necessary testing on the declared feed before customs clearance is completed.
- (3) Where the importer obtains testing from a feed-testing institution designated under Article 20-2(1) or a feed-certification institution under Article 22 and submits the test certificate, the paragraph-2 testing may be substituted or its items adjusted as prescribed by MAFRA Ordinance.
In short: Korea requires a pre-import declaration to MAFRA, with possible official testing before customs clearance β a testing burden that a recognised private test certificate can offset.
Article 13 β labelling items of feed
- (1) A manufacturer, importer, or seller who intends to sell manufactured or imported feed must mark on the container or package the registered-component matters (μ±λΆλ±λ‘), expiry date (μ ν΅κΈ°ν), and other usage cautions prescribed by MAFRA Ordinance.
- (2) A manufacturer, importer, or seller must not falsely or exaggeratedly mark those labelling items.
Why it matters
Article 19 is the import-control backbone (declaration + safety testing before clearance), while Article 13 sets the on-pack labelling obligations and explicitly bans false or exaggerated claims. Together they frame Korea's pet-food market-access and label-compliance regime alongside the separate NIAS 2024 nutrient standards.
Sources
kr_feed_mgmt_import_labelingβ Feed Management Act (μ¬λ£κ΄λ¦¬λ²) Articles 19 (import declaration to MAFRA, pre-clearance testing, private test-certificate substitution) and 13 (registered-component matters, expiry, usage cautions; prohibition on false/exaggerated marks), verbatim Korean with English translation (C1-matched).