Exemption from Notarization Procedures for Six Types of 'Cosmetics Export' Certificates

MFDS and Jaewoe Dongpo Agency Simplify Procedures for Official Document Issuance and Certification

Additional notarization will be exempted for six types of certificates that must be issued by the Korea Cosmetic Association for cosmetic exports.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Ministry of Overseas Koreans announced on the 22nd that they will improve the procedure to omit additional notarization for the original six types of certificates required for cosmetic exports, including the Cosmetic Manufacturing and Sales Certificate, Manufacturing Certificate, Manufacturer Certificate, Responsible Sales Agent Certificate, Other Address Change Certificate, and Certificate of Origin for Product Type, and instead issue Apostille (official document issuance certification) and consular confirmation from the headquarters.

Foreign customers, mostly tourists, are selecting cosmetics at a cosmetics shopping mall in Myeongdong, Seoul. Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

Apostille and consular confirmation from the headquarters are documents that certify domestic documents to be effective overseas and are issued only for official documents under relevant laws. Until now, the six types of certificates issued by the Korea Cosmetic Association, which is not a government agency, required additional notarization before applying for Apostille or consular confirmation from the headquarters.

With this measure, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Ministry of Overseas Koreans expect to help the cosmetics industry smoothly prepare the necessary documents for export while also reducing notarization costs by approximately 1.8 billion KRW annually. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety stated, "We will continue to resolve difficulties faced by our companies through inter-agency cooperation and actively support cosmetic exports."