1. Reasons for Amendment

As global interest in environmental protection, animal welfare, etc. increases, food ingredients subject to recognition are expanded and improved to include future food ingredients that use new technologies, such as cell culture food, etc. to support the entry of new food products with new technology applications.

And this amendment aims to improve and supplement some of the inadequacies in the operation of the current system, such as allowing bread, rice cakes, and confectionery manufactured on the same day to be sold to rest area restaurants, general restaurants, and facilities providing meals, and allowing cooking activities at restaurants’ outdoor business sites provided they are not adjacent to residential areas and if the head of the local government has set the standard.

2. Major Provisions

A. Expand subjects for recognition of temporary standards and specifications of food ingredients (Article 5 (1))

Food obtained using new technologies, such as cell culture food, shall be stipulated as a subject for recognizing temporary standards and specifications of food ingredients.

B. Food hygiene education hours, etc. of food-related business operators (Article 52 (2), Article 54 (2))

1) Food hygiene education hours for those who intend to newly start an instantly-available food manufacturing or processing business shall be reduced from the current 8 hours to 6 hours.

2) If the registration authority recognizes that it is difficult for a new business operator to receive pre-training before the start of business, the grace period granted shall be extended from 3 months to 6 months.

C. Extend the deadline for reporting production performance of food manufacturing, processing, and food additive manufacturing business operators from one month after the end of the current year to two months (Article 56 (1))

D. Improve standards for facilities at place of business and facilities providing meals (Attached tables 14, 25)

1) If food manufacturers and processors cannot store semi-finished products due to insufficient capacity in the warehouse, they may install or lease warehouses even outside the jurisdiction of the business registration office.

2) The facility standards are supplemented so that in the case of general restaurants with rooms installed in them cannot install accommodation facilities such as beds, bathrooms, etc. inside such a room.

3) The seats of the facilities providing meals shall be installed at the same place of business or the same location where the facilities providing meals is established.

E. Terms of compliance for business operators and facilities providing meals, installers and operators (Attached tables 17, 24)

1) Reduce the storage period of products’ transaction records by food manufacturers and processors from 3 years to 2 years.

2) Improve so that breads, rice cakes, and confectionery manufactured on the same day at instantly-available food manufacturing or processing businesses and bakeries can be sold on the same day to rest area restaurants, general restaurants, catering service businesses, and facilities providing meals.  And in such cases, business operators and facilities providing meals installers and operators that sold and purchased the food shall keep a transaction statement, etc. that can confirm the production and sale on the same day.

3) Cooking activities at outdoor business sites shall be possible if they are not adjacent to residential areas and pose little concern for environmental hazard, and if they meet the standards set by the head of the local government.

4) Supplement the regulations to prohibit the catering service businesses and facilities providing meals installers and operators from falsely writing sanitary inspection logs.