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WTO notification · SPS

South KoreaProposed measure, open for comments

Food – South Korea

Official title

Partial Amendment Notice (Draft) of Standards and Specifications for Health Functional Foods (Advance Notice No. 2026-512, 23 October 2026)

South Korea notified this proposed SPS measure to the WTO on 4 November 2026. Comments are open until 3 January 2027.

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Source: WTO ePing (opens in a new tab). Summaries by Expodite, which is independent of the WTO.

Published here:

At a glance

Products

Health functional food products

Notifying member
South Korea(Korea, Republic of)
Status
Proposed measure, open for comments
Objectives
  • Food safety
Area
SPS: Food safety, animal and plant healthSanitary and phytosanitary measures
Notification type
Regular notification
Document symbol
G/SPS/N/KOR/853
Keywords
Food safety, Human health

Key dates

Distributed by the WTO
Comment deadline
Open until 3 January 2027
Proposed adoption
To be determined.
Proposed entry into force
To be determined.

How to comment

Comments on a notification go from government to government. If this measure affects your exports, send your comments to your country's WTO SPS enquiry point before 3 January 2027, quoting the document symbol G/SPS/N/KOR/853 and how the measure affects your products. Your enquiry point forwards them to South Korea.

Find your country's enquiry point on WTO ePing (opens in a new tab)

What the notification says

The proposed amendments seek to: A. Reorganization of the structural framework of the Standards and Specifications for Health Functional Foods (Draft Articles I.2, I.3, I.4, I.5, II.1, II.2, II.3, II.4, II.6, and [Annex 4]) The provisions for 'Collection and Handling of Test Samples' were separated from the general standards and specifications, and 'Raw Materials' was relocated to the general manufacturing standards, alongside the removal of unnecessary details and clarification of provisions. B. Expansion of new ingredients for nutrients and establishment of specifications for ingredients to restructure the management system (Draft Articles III.1.1, 4), 6), 7), and 8); III.1-1 4); III.1.1-4 4); III.1.1-11 1); III.1.1-16 1), 2), and 3); III.1.1-17 1), 2), and 3); and [Annex 5]) Three new ingredients, including calcium L-methylfolate, were added as manufacturing ingredients for folic acid, magnesium, and iron, and component specifications for magnesium and iron ingredients were newly established. C. Improvement of the microbial specification application method for Ginseng and Red Ginseng concentrates (Draft Articles III.2.2-1 2) and III.2.2-2 2)) The unit for the viable bacterial count specification for concentrates was changed from milliliter (mL) to gram (g). D. Expansion of manufacturing methods for oils and fats containing EPA and DHA (Draft Article III.2.2-16 1)) Additional manufacturing methods for EPA and DHA-containing oils and fats were permitted to broaden the…

Sources

Expodite writes its summary from the official record. The notification and the documents it notifies are on the WTO's own websites.

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