Changes to the inter-Korean trade rules — draft amendment to the Enforcement Decree and a new procedure for bringing in food from North Korea
On 16 January the Ministry of Unification announced measures to improve the rules governing small-scale trade between South and North Korea. A draft partial amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act was published for public comment, together with two related public notices, one newly made and one amended. If you are preparing to carry goods out or in — food from North Korea in particular — the way you assemble your documents may change, so please look at this in advance.
What would change
- Article 41 of the Enforcement Decree (application of other statutes) would add the Special Act on Imported Food Safety Control, so that safety-management procedures meeting international standards apply to food brought in from North Korea.
- Article 25 of the Enforcement Decree (documents for an import approval application) would add documents relating to registration of the overseas manufacturing establishment, and transshipment certificates showing that goods merely passed through a third country.
- A new public notice on inspection procedures for food imported from North Korea, issued jointly by the Ministry of Unification and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, would set out registration of overseas manufacturing establishments, on-site inspections and laboratory testing.
- The public notice on verifying the origin of goods traded between South and North Korea would be amended at the same time.
What to prepare
- If you are planning to bring in food, registration of the manufacturing establishment and a transshipment certificate may become mandatory documents for an approval application. Check with your counterpart first whether those documents can be obtained.
- The application for approval for carrying goods out/in and the plan for carrying goods out/in held in Resources are the forms currently in force. If the Enforcement Decree and the public notices are finalized and the forms change, we will update Resources and post a notice.
- This is still at the public-comment stage, so the date of entry into force and the final text must be confirmed in the Official Gazette and in announcements by the Ministry of Unification.
Consultation
If you are preparing an application for approval to carry goods out or in and are unsure how to assemble the documents, please request a consultation. The approval application itself is filed and reviewed by the Ministry of Unification and the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation System (tongtong.go.kr).
Source: Ministry of Unification press release, "Building a practical institutional basis for resuming small-scale inter-Korean trade" (16 January 2026) https://eiec.kdi.re.kr/policy/materialView.do?num=275993