'K-Premium Pet Food' Gains Access to Canadian Market... Final Quarantine Agreement Reached

One Domestic Export Facility Approved

Final Agreement Reached on Hygiene Conditions and Quarantine Certificate Format

The path for exporting K-premium pet food to Canada has opened. This comes as a result of the finalization of the quarantine negotiations between Korea and Canada, allowing K-pet food to secure a foothold for entry into the North American market.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, after about seven years of diplomatic and technical negotiations since the talks began in September 2019, the two countries have reached a final quarantine agreement to allow the export of pet food containing domestically produced meat ingredients to Canada, as announced on July 13.

A ministry official stated, "In addition to receiving approval for a domestic export facility from Canada in June this year, the two countries have now finalized agreements on quarantine and hygiene conditions, as well as the format of the export quarantine certificate." The official added, "With this agreement, premium heat-treated and freeze-dried snacks for pets—made with original ingredients such as chicken breast, beef liver, salmon, and pollock, without additives—can now enter the North American market for the first time."

The main achievement of these negotiations is that, based on technical quarantine discussions and real-time video inspections, one domestic export facility (Ocean Co., Ltd.) has obtained final approval from the Canadian quarantine authorities. This company is already actively exporting cat food and other products to Taiwan, Chile, Ecuador, and other countries. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs expects this approval to lead to further expansion into the North American market.

Hygiene conditions that meet international standards and the requirements of Canadian authorities have also been established. Specifically, considering the risk level by ingredient, it was agreed that poultry ingredients must be heat-processed at a core temperature of at least 70°C for more than 3.6 seconds, and beef ingredients must be heated at 70°C or higher for at least 30 minutes. It was also agreed to apply a statistically based sampling method for microbiological tests according to international standards. This sets a standard hygiene benchmark that can be applied to other domestic pet food companies wishing to export to Canada in the future.

The export quarantine certificate format required to prove compliance with the hygiene conditions agreed upon by the two governments has also been finalized. An official quarantine inspector from the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency will verify and officially certify the requirements demanded by the Canadian authorities, such as proof of ingredient origin, confirmation that the source animals of the meat ingredients have undergone slaughter inspection, and compliance with the heat-treatment process.

Park Sangho, Director General for International Agricultural Cooperation at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, stated, "The fact that pet food, one of the strategic industries of K-Food Plus(+), has passed the stringent quarantine barriers of the North American region proves the world-class quality and hygiene management of Korean companies." He added, "Related companies are currently negotiating with local distributors with the goal of making their first exports by the end of this year."

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