Korea exports food safety tech via training for Saudi, Indonesian officials

A promotional poster for the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's five-day exchange program with officials from Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. Courtesy of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety

Korea is intensifying its bureaucratic and technological diplomacy to safeguard its growing culinary footprint abroad, launching a high-level human resources exchange designed to help domestic exporters navigate increasingly stringent international food regulations and the trillion-dollar global halal market.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, alongside the Korea Institute for Food Safety Management Accreditation, said Monday that it will host senior regulatory officials from Indonesia and Saudi Arabia for a weeklong food safety exchange program beginning July 13. The initiative arrives at a critical juncture for Korean food companies, which face an impending mandatory halal certification law in Indonesia and shifting import standards across the Middle East.

Delegates from Indonesia’s Halal Product Assurance Organizing Agency and the Saudi Food and Drug Authority will examine Korea’s digitized safety infrastructure. Central to the program is Smart HACCP — Korea’s automated, real-time hazard monitoring system — which officials here hope to position as a gold standard for international supply chain integrity.

For Korea, the stakes are deeply commercial. While the term "K-food" was once localized to cultural enclaves, it has evolved into a vital macroeconomic driver. However, tightening religious and sanitary compliance frameworks in key emerging markets threaten to bottleneck exports.

To bridge this regulatory gap, Korean authorities will also convene a policy symposium on July 16. The event will allow Indonesian and Saudi regulators to directly brief Korean firms on shifting compliance trends, import procedures and certification workflows.

"Through this initiative, we intend to demonstrate the sophistication of our food safety architecture and solidify bilateral regulatory cooperation," Food and Drug Safety Minister Oh Yu-kyoung said. She added that Seoul plans to systematically expand personnel exchanges to ensure stable market access for domestic producers.

The initiative marks the fifth year of Korea’s targeted food-safety diplomacy, following similar regulatory exchanges with China, Vietnam and Malaysia.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.