Food and drug safety ministry updates export hygiene certificate guide

The food and drug safety ministry said it revised a question-and-answer guide on hygiene certificates for exported food products, incorporating requests from businesses and recurring questions received by local food and drug safety offices. The ministry said the revision reflected comments raised at a Food and Drug Policy Connect meeting held in May.

Hygiene certificates confirm that food, health-functional food and livestock products have been manufactured, produced, processed and managed in line with relevant laws.

Updated guidance explains how applicants for health-functional food certificates should record functional ingredients and their contents. It also addresses whether certificates can be reissued, how to submit a fresh request after an application is rejected, and how to print certificates.

Application instructions were adjusted to reflect changes made in a redesign of the ministry's website, while additional material sets out how information should be entered at each stage of a certificate application.

The ministry said it expects the revised guide to help applicants seek certificates more conveniently, and that it would continue working to address difficulties with document issuance. The guide is available on the ministry's website under laws and materials, legal information, and guidance for civil petitioners.