1. Reason for enactment

 The purpose of the enactment of these regulations is to provide the matters necessary for the health functional foods safety and hygiene education institutions, including detailed standards for entrustment, the contents of safety and hygiene education, the assessment of educational operations, and the collection of education fees, in accordance with Article 13 of the Health Functional Foods Act and Articles 18 and 20 of the Enforcement Rules of the same Act.

2. Main contents

a. The regulations provide detailed guidelines for designating education institutions (Articles 2 to 5 of the Draft).

1) It provides the entrustment standards for educational facilities, equipment, etc. of education institutions and allows for the designation of institutions or groups that meet the relevant standards by openly recruiting.

2) Education institutions may be designated only when they satisfy the standards pursuant to the results of review by the review team responsible for designating education institutions.

3) The period of operation of education institutions is three years. Renewal of the designation of an education institution will be determined based on the assessment results of educational operation and performance of the operation, etc.

b. The regulations provide the procedure for changing the name, etc. of education institutions (Article 6 of the Draft)

1) If any changes take place at an education institution, such as a change of its head, name, or location, the institution is required to submit a written application and supporting documents to the Minister of Food and Drug Safety within 30 days of the date of the cause of or reason for such change.

2) If the application for change complies with the entrustment standards, the Minister will issue a certification of the education institution designation reflecting the changed contents.

c. Provision of matters necessary for the operation of education institutions (Draft Articles 7 to 13)

1) The heads of education institutions should enact and implement education implementation regulations and submit their education plans to the Minister of Food and Drug Safety every year.

2) The heads of education institutions should send a written notice to trainees and issue a training certificate to those who complete the training.

3) The heads of education organizations should report the results of their education to the competent authorities and the Minister of Food and Drug Safety. 

4) If a responsible person is appointed to take charge safety and hygiene training from among the employees who will receive the training, the education institution must receive a written certificate of his/her appointment before the training.

5) The heads of education institutions should notify the competent authority of whether or not the trainees have completed the training so that the competent authorities may take the necessary measures in accordance with the Health Functional Foods Act.

6) The regulations also stipulate that the revenues, including tuition for the safety and hygiene education, should not be used for any purpose other than hygiene education. 

d. The Minister of Food and Drug Safety may conduct an assessment of the education provided by education institutions at least once per year (Article 14 of the Draft).

e. The competent authorities should provide assistance to or cooperate with the heads of education institutions as requested (Article 15 of the Draft).