Food Manufacturing Business and Mail-Order Report in Korea — What You Need to Sell Food You Make Online

To sell food you make yourself online in Korea, you need both a business registration or report under the Food Sanitation Act and a mail-order business report under the Act on the Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce (the E-Commerce Act). One does not replace the other.

Selling food online takes two separate filings

The two procedures fall under different laws and produce separate certificates. The general procedure and facility standards for food businesses are covered in our guide to the food manufacturing business.

Item	Food Sanitation Act	E-Commerce Act
What it governs	Businesses that make, process, repackage or sell food	Mail-order selling (own online store, open markets)
Procedure	Registration or report, depending on the business type	Mail-order business report (unless exempt)
Where to file	City, county or district office where the premises are (alcoholic beverage manufacturing: Ministry of Food and Drug Safety)	City, county or district office of the principal office (Fair Trade Commission if the principal office is abroad)

Business types under the Food Sanitation Act by how you make the food

Which business type applies depends on where you make the food and to whom you sell it. The food manufacturing and processing business is subject to registration, not a permit. The instant sale manufacturing and processing business, the specialized distribution and sales business and the food repackaging business are subject to a report.

Sales structure	Business type	Procedure
Made in your own workshop, sold online and wholesale	Food manufacturing and processing business	Registration + product manufacturing report for each product
Made in your shop, sold directly or by courier to end consumers	Instant sale manufacturing and processing business	Report
Made by a contract manufacturer, sold under your own brand	Specialized distribution and sales business	Report
Finished products divided and repackaged for sale	Food repackaging business	Report

A food manufacturing and processing business has no restriction on buyers in its definition, so it can sell online to consumers and supply other businesses at the same time. It must file a product manufacturing report for each product before production starts or within 7 days after it starts; for outsourced production, the commissioning party files it. Some product types must apply HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points), so check that as well.

An instant sale manufacturing and processing business sells food directly to end consumers at the place where it is made. It may not sell outside the premises, except when the operator or staff deliver directly to end consumers, or when the food is sent by post or courier to end consumers under standards set by the Minister of Food and Drug Safety. Selling to anyone who intends to resell is prohibited. The only exception is bread, confectionery and rice cakes sold on the day they are made to restaurants, contract caterers or institutional food service facilities, and the transaction records must be kept for 6 months.

A specialized distribution and sales business does not manufacture itself; it sells under its own brand food made on commission by a food manufacturing and processing business. If it sells by mail order and buyers do not visit the office, a residential building or a startup incubation center may be used as the office, and the storage warehouse may be located elsewhere or leased.

Mail-order business report and the exemption threshold

A mail-order business reports its trade name (for a corporation, including the representative's name), address, phone number, email address, internet domain name and hosting server location. The office checks the corporate register and the business registration certificate through shared administrative information. For prepaid sales, where the consumer pays first, you also submit a document proving the use of escrow or a consumer damage compensation insurance contract. For the paperwork, see our mail-order business report guide.

Under the Fair Trade Commission notice, you may skip the report if you had fewer than 50 mail-order transactions in the previous year or you are a simplified VAT taxpayer; transactions cancelled by withdrawal of the order are not counted. The Food Sanitation Act filing is still required regardless of sales volume. Changes to reported details and suspension, closure or resumption of business must also be reported.

Before you start selling, check in this order:

1. Decide the business type based on whom you sell to and where you make the food.
2. Confirm that the business type and address on your certificate match your actual workshop.
3. For a food manufacturing and processing business, finish the product manufacturing report for each product you will sell.
4. For an instant sale manufacturing and processing business, confirm that courier delivery meets the official standards.
5. Check whether the mail-order report applies and, for prepaid sales, prepare the purchase-safety document.

For support with registration, see our food manufacturing business registration service.

Yuseon Administrative Scrivener Office (Chief Scrivener Jeong Yuseon)