[Press Release, Sept. 23 / Unofficial translation] MFDS and NFSA sign arrangement for fishery product safety - The arrangement attributes responsibility and obligation on the Norwegian government to manage the safety of fishery products exported to Korea- □ The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS, Minister Lee Eui-Kyung) announced the signing of the “Arrangement on the Food Safety of Fishery Products Exported to the Republic of Korea” on Sep. 23 with the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA) aimed at improving the safety of fishery products from Norway. ○ Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the signing will be held virtually. The arrangement was devised to ensure the importation of safe fishery products competently managed by the Norwegian government from the production stage. * Fishery product safety agreement with China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Russia, Ecuador, Chile as of now → valid arrangements with these seven countries □ Some highlights of the arrangement include ▲the government’s proactive safety management of establishments in exporting countries, ▲issuance of Health Certificates, ▲temporary suspension of import, investigation of the cause, and other follow-up measures implemented in the event of non-compliance with the regulation on the food safety. ○ The Norwegian government will notify Korea of producers whose safety and hygiene have been managed from the production stage. Only the notified producers will be able to export their products to Korea. Health certificates must be submitted at customs clearance for every exportation. ○ Meanwhile, Norway was the 4th largest exporter of fishery products to Korea, with about 70,000 tons of fishery product imports in 2019. In particular, the amount of frozen mackerel and chilled salmon from Norway accounted for 94.5% and 98.6% of the total, respectively. □ The Ministry said that it would further expand the scope of safety arrangement to attribute safety responsibilities and obligations to the governments of major exporting countries from the production stage to improve fishery product safety management.