NOTE: This is a research/survey topic with no single verifiable source file. Claims are based on cross-referencing multiple official Korean government sources.
This topic summarizes the institutional division of regulatory responsibilities for pet food in South Korea across MAFRA, APQA, and NVRQS.
Regulatory Bodies
MAFRA (농림축산식품부 / Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs)
- Primary authority for feed and pet food policy under the Feed Management Act (사료관리법)
- Issues notifications on feed standards and specifications (사료 등의 기준 및 규격), including the 2025-09-04 addition of 별표 15의2 (Annex 15-2) on pet food labelling
- Issues import health requirements notifications (e.g., MAFRA Notification No. 2025-20)
- Responsible for ingredient registration (성분등록) and manufacturer registration (제조업등록)
- Oversees the NIAS (국립축산과학원 / National Institute of Animal Science) which sets nutritional standards
APQA (농림축산검역본부 / Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency)
- Operates under MAFRA
- Responsible for import quarantine of pet food under the Act on the Prevention of Contagious Animal Diseases (가축전염병 예방법)
- Issues designated quarantine item import prohibition lists (지정검역물의 수입금지지역)
- Operates the Korean Animal Health Integration System (animal.go.kr) — a web portal for facility registration and quarantine procedures
- Note: The public search interface of animal.go.kr was inaccessible at time of research due to JS-rendered SPA; the K2WebWizard CMS-based public notice board is offline
NVRQS (국립수의과학검역원 / National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service)
- Sub-agency of APQA
- Conducts veterinary drug and vaccine approval reviews
- Maintains veterinary pharmaceutical product lists (품목허가목록)
- Note: nvrqs.go.kr was unreachable at time of research
Regulatory Framework Overview
Pet food in Korea is regulated under two main laws:
- Feed Management Act (사료관리법) — MAFRA: manufacturing, import registration, labelling, nutritional standards
- Act on Prevention of Contagious Animal Diseases (가축전염병 예방법) — APQA: import quarantine, animal disease prevention
Data Source Notes
- data.go.kr (公共데이터포털): MAFRA and APQA dataset listings were inaccessible during research (search endpoint returns error pages)
- Seoul VPS relay used to bypass local network restrictions when probing Korean government sites
- MAFRA Notice Board (mafra.go.kr/news/news01) confirmed offline (K2WebWizard CMS — public board service discontinued)
- law.go.kr: Reached via Seoul VPS; feed-related law text accessible
Source: Research compilation, 2026-07-21. Institutional claims cross-referenced from Korean government organizational charts and legal texts.