Haessop Certification Institute conducts hygiene evaluation of safe imported food OEM imported food: Food and Drug Daily KFDN Food and Medicine News

HACCP Certification Agency has reorganized internal rules in accordance with the recently revised “Local hygiene inspection standards and hygiene evaluation methods for imported food with original equipment labeling, etc.” (Notice of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, September 25, 2024) to enable original equipment labeling (hereinafter referred to as OEM). Hygiene evaluation of imported food, etc. will be conducted in earnest.

Korea Food Safety Management Certification Board (Director Sang-bae Han, Haecop Certification Board) is a system that requires hygiene evaluations of OEM imported foods to be conducted at designated intervals in order to assign responsibility for food safety management to business operators importing and selling OEM products. It must be conducted by requesting an overseas food hygiene evaluation agency.

To ensure that they are managed at the same level as domestic products, a total of five designated foreign food hygiene evaluation agencies, including HACCP Certification Institute, have established the “Standards for local hygiene inspection and hygiene evaluation method for imported original-order branded foods, etc. (Ministry of Food and Drug Safety Notification No. 2024-53”) According to this, professional and fair inspections will be conducted on 75 items in 11 areas, including the external environment of overseas manufacturing facilities, workplace management, and food handling facilities and equipment.

Since 2014, HACCP Certification Institute has been conducting hygiene evaluations on overseas manufacturers, including OEM imported foods, and was designated as the first overseas food hygiene evaluation agency by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in 2016, providing various services such as on-site inspections of overseas manufacturers and HACCP certification for imported foods. By operating a business related to imported food safety, we are establishing ourselves as a specialized organization for imported food safety management in name and reality.

In particular, Haessop Certification Institute has established a more systematic and professional operating foundation through preliminary reorganization, such as holding meetings for imported food business operators, operating regular training for the Hygiene Evaluation Center, and revising related internal rules.

“We will continue to make efforts to strengthen communication with the industry and expertise to ensure professional and transparent imported food safety management,” said Han Sang-bae, director of the Haessop Certification Institute. “We will continue to fulfill our responsibility as a specialized organization for imported food safety management to ensure that the public can consume it with confidence.” “We will do our best to provide imported foods that are available,” he said.