South Korea announces new import regulations for pet food
As the country moves to boost domestic pet food production, new import regulations pose challenges and opportunities for international manufacturers.
Pet food manufacturers looking to export to South Korea have new mandates to contend with after the country set additional regulations for the category.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) announced new sanitary condition requirements in January 2025. Effective immediately, ingredient and pet food manufacturers must undergo inspection by the governments of the exporting countries to ensure compliance with South Korea’s rules.
This will open the market to more beef ruminant ingredients, which had been severely restricted for decades after bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) scares. However, there are still outlines, including strict cooking and sterilization requirements, for various food ingredients from areas with specific disease outbreaks.
One listed outbreak that could impact foods’ ability to be sold in Korea is the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), which is spreading through farms in much of the United States. The current outbreak’s impact on the trade of poultry-based pet foods is still unclear.
The regulation also outlines label requirements for traded goods.
Market outlook
While the number of Korean households with pets has not grown consistently in the past few years, data from Statista shows a new high in 2023 of 28.2% of people owning pets.
This marks a relatively low rate of ownership compared to countries like the US, where roughly two-thirds of households reportedly own pets. The low percentage in Korea suggests that future growth is possible.
In 2023, MAFRA unveiled a plan to boost domestic pet food production to create a ₩15 trillion ($10B/€9.5B) industry by 2027. According to USDA data, in 2023, pet food imports decreased by 11.4% year-on-year (YoY).
Since then, UK and US officials have highlighted the potential value of exporting to Korea. Despite the country’s push to decrease imports, some companies, like Ukrainian pet food manufacturer Kormotech, are still set on breaking into the East Asian market.
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