Private Inspection Agencies for Agricultural and Marine Products Will Also Be Able to Conduct Radiation Tests

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on the 22nd that it will revise and promulgate related regulations to allow private agricultural and fishery product safety inspection agencies to also test for radioactivity and other factors.

Radioactivity Analysis Laboratory reference photo.

Until now, radioactivity testing of agricultural and fishery products at the production stage was conducted only by government agencies such as the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service and local governments like Busan Metropolitan City. Private inspection agencies were only able to test for four types of harmful substances, including pesticides and heavy metals.

With the revision of the "Regulations on Labeling of Genetically Modified Agricultural and Fishery Products and Safety Investigation of Agricultural and Fishery Products" by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, private inspection agencies can now conduct tests on a total of eight items, including the existing four items, radioactivity, biotoxins, persistent organic pollutants, and other substances deemed necessary for testing.

Additionally, the regulations specify the standards for analytical instruments that safety inspection agencies must have for each testing and analysis task, thereby improving the operational efficiency of inspection agencies.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety stated, "We expect this to contribute to creating an environment where consumers can safely consume agricultural and fishery products by expanding the testing capacity for harmful substances such as radioactivity and strengthening safety management."

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