Contents
- Legal grounds for cancellation and corrective orders
- Sanction standards by violation
- What to do before and after a sanction
- FAQ
Under the Food Sanitation Act, HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) certification can be cancelled, or a corrective order issued, when an inspection shows the site is not following the standards. Cancellation is mandatory if the certification was obtained by fraud or if the business received a suspension of 2 months or more. HACCP is a certification, separate from the business license or registration. Once it is cancelled, the site may no longer call itself a HACCP-certified site, and businesses for which HACCP is mandatory still have to follow the standards.
For the first application, see our HACCP certification guide. For relocation or changes to critical control points, see HACCP certification change applications.
Legal grounds for cancellation and corrective orders
The Minister of Food and Drug Safety must inspect and evaluate each certified site at least 1 time a year for compliance and training, and this power, together with cancellation and corrective orders, is delegated to the regional food and drug safety offices. The grounds are:
- Not following the HACCP standards
- Obtaining certification by fraud or other improper means (mandatory cancellation)
- Receiving a business suspension of 2 months or more (mandatory cancellation)
- The operator or employees not completing the required training
- Outsourcing production of a certified food to another site, or failing to apply for a change of location or critical control points
Outsourcing is allowed in some cases, for example to another site certified for the same food. HACCP for livestock product plants falls under the Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act, which has its own cancellation rules.
Sanction standards by violation
The Enforcement Rule divides violations into those leading to cancellation and those leading to a corrective order.
| Violation | Sanction |
|---|---|
| No supplier test reports for raw materials and no in-house testing | Cancellation |
| No cleaning or disinfection of the workplace and no staff hygiene control | Cancellation |
| No monitoring of critical control points, or no corrective action after a critical limit is breached | Cancellation |
| No hazard analysis at all for a new product or added process | Cancellation |
| Not following the production method in the HACCP plan | Corrective order |
| Failed inspection with under 60% in prerequisite programs or HACCP management | Cancellation |
| Failed inspection with 60% to under 85% | Corrective order |
| Training not completed; change application not filed | Corrective order |
| Outsourcing a certified food to another site | Cancellation |
| Business suspension of 2 months or more, or a penalty surcharge in its place | Cancellation |
A corrective order can still end in cancellation. Ignoring 2 or more corrective orders for production method, training or change application violations, or ignoring an order issued for the 60% to 85% score band, leads to cancellation. Regular employee training is required at least 1 time every year except the year of certification, so keep completion records.
What to do before and after a sanction
Cancellation requires a hearing, so you have a chance to present your position. Respond in this order:
- Check whether each violation in the notice is a corrective order item or a cancellation item in the standards table.
- Gather records such as critical control point monitoring logs, corrective action records and training records.
- If you receive a corrective order, comply within the deadline and keep proof. Repeated non-compliance leads to cancellation.
- At the hearing, explain the facts and the improvements already made.
- If the certification is cancelled, remove the HACCP name from packaging and advertising at once. Continued use is subject to an administrative fine.
Businesses for which HACCP is mandatory must keep following the standards even after cancellation. For food manufacturing and processing businesses, a breach carries a business suspension of 7 days for a first violation, 15 days for a second and 1 month for a third. For help with recertification, see our HACCP certification service.
FAQ
Q. Does a failed inspection mean immediate cancellation?
A. It depends on the score. Under 60% in prerequisite programs or HACCP management means cancellation; 60% to under 85% means a corrective order, and ignoring that order leads to cancellation.
Q. Do we also lose HACCP certification after a business suspension?
A. A suspension of 2 months or more, or a penalty surcharge in its place, means mandatory cancellation. Shorter suspensions do not fall under this ground.
Q. What if employees miss regular training?
A. Missing training leads to a corrective order. Ignoring 2 or more corrective orders becomes a ground for cancellation.
Q. Can we use leftover packaging with the HACCP mark after cancellation?
A. A business that is not certified may not use the name, and doing so is subject to an administrative fine. Stop using such packaging and advertising.
Talk to us about a HACCP sanction
To review a sanction notice, organize corrective action records or prepare recertification documents, contact YouSun Administrative Agency. Phone 02-325-8222, weekdays 09:30~17:30 KST.
Request a consultation