Korea Customs Service and MFDS "Blocking Import of Food Containing Harmful Substances Exploiting Black Friday"

On the 20th, the Korea Customs Service announced that it will conduct a focused safety inspection of imported foods purchased through overseas direct purchase in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety from the 20th to the 1st of next month.

The focused inspection is being carried out to prevent foods containing harmful substances from being brought into the country, taking advantage of the increase in overseas direct purchase volumes around the large-scale discount event in the United States on the 24th of this month, known as 'Black Friday.'

In the focused inspection conducted through cooperation between the Korea Customs Service and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the Korea Customs Service will focus on illegal overseas direct purchase harmful foods that claim effects such as immune system enhancement, weight loss, and sexual function improvement, while the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety plans to strengthen crackdowns on foods prohibited from importation.

Since 2015, the two agencies have conducted focused inspections to ensure safety at the customs clearance stage for overseas direct purchase foods. Products suspected of containing harmful substances during the crackdown are fully opened for safety inspections, and the components of the products are analyzed.

If harmful substances are confirmed during this process, the products may be discarded or returned during customs clearance, so consumer caution is required.

In particular, even if products are sold as foods overseas, their importation may be restricted domestically. Therefore, the Korea Customs Service urges consumers to check whether harmful substances are included before purchasing products.

Information on overseas direct purchase harmful foods restricted from domestic import can be found on the Food Safety Korea website under ‘Overseas Direct Purchase Food All (ALL) Baro.’

A Korea Customs Service official stated, “To prevent consumers from being harmed by foods containing harmful substances, we will share related information with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and strengthen collaborative inspections of overseas direct purchase foods.”