Import of 21 Million Masks... Korea Customs Service Enhances Swift Clearance and Support

Noh Seok-hwan, Commissioner of the Korea Customs Service (second from the left), visited the bonded warehouse at Incheon Airport on the 25th to inspect the import customs clearance site for COVID-19 prevention supplies such as health masks, protective suits, and nonwoven fabric (MB) used for mask manufacturing. Photo by Korea Customs Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] It has been reported that approximately 21 million masks have been imported into Korea from overseas over the past three weeks. The rapid large-scale import of masks is attributed to the government's support for expedited customs clearance of health masks.

Considering the mask shortage caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), separate support teams were operated at each customs office to assist with customs clearance, which helped ease the mask supply situation.

According to the Korea Customs Service on the 25th, 21.45 million masks were imported into the country from the 2nd to the 24th of this month. This amounts to an average daily import of 930,000 masks.

The main countries of import were China (66%), Vietnam (22%), and the United States (3%). By type, health masks accounted for 65% and medical masks 35% of the imports.

The masks imported during this period were mainly used for donation, relief, and employee distribution (13.99 million masks) and general sales (7.46 million masks).

Previously, the Korea Customs Service, together with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, significantly simplified the mask import customs clearance procedures and temporarily established and operated ‘Mask Import Expedited Customs Clearance Support Teams’ at customs offices nationwide to enable masks to pass through customs quickly.

Additionally, for general masks that are not health masks, customs clearance was allowed immediately upon import declaration if there were no particular suspicions, further simplifying the procedures. As a result, the volume of mask imports increased significantly from 50,000 masks in the first week of March to 2.74 million masks in the fourth week, according to the Korea Customs Service.

Building on this momentum, the Korea Customs Service plans to strengthen expedited customs clearance of COVID-19 prevention supplies such as masks, MB filters, and protective clothing, centered on the ‘Mask Expedited Customs Clearance Support Teams’ at each customs office. They also plan to expand tax support measures, including extending tax payment deadlines and allowing installment payments for mask and MB filter importers.

Director General Noh Seok-hwan of the Korea Customs Service stated, “We will focus the Korea Customs Service’s capabilities on ensuring that the import customs clearance of COVID-19 prevention supplies such as masks and MB filters is carried out swiftly so that the public can feel secure. Furthermore, we will actively expand support measures to prevent the contraction of trade activities of domestic import and export companies amid the global crisis.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.