[Press Release, Feb 12, 2020 / unofficial translation ]



Enforcement of “Emergency Adjustment Measures for Supply and Demand of Filtering Respirators and Hand Sanitizers”
- Applies to goods produced and sold from 00:00 on Feb. 12 onward - first report to be made by 12:00pm on Feb. 13 -


□ With the increasing public concern regarding the shortage of filtering respirators and hand sanitizers owing to COVID-19, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS; Minister: Lee, Eui-Kyung) will enforce, pursuant to Article 6 of the Price Stabilization Act, the “Public Notice on Emergency Supply Control of Filtering respirators and Hand Sanitizers” from 00:00 on Feb. 12 onward.
※ (Article 6 of the Price Stabilization Act) The government may take emergency measures on the supply and release of commodities when supply control is inevitable due to crises in the national finance and economy and when supply adjustment function has been disabled.

○ As such, manufacturers and distributors of filtering respirators and hand sanitizers shall report their sales and production to the MFDS from Feb. 12 every day.

- Such reporting will enhance transparency in production, distribution, and sales of filtering respirators and hand sanitizers as well as root out illegal acts of distribution such as hoarding, price-gouging, and smuggling.


□ The following are the main agenda of the emergency adjustment measures:

○ Manufacturers of filtering respirators and hand sanitizers shall report the daily volumes of production, domestic release, export and stocks to the MFDS by noon of the following day.

○ Distributors shall report the sales price, sales volume, and retailer information to the MFDS by noon of the following day, if they sell more than certain quantity* of filtering respirators and hand sanitizers to the same retailer.
*More than 10,000 filtering respirator and 500 hand sanitizers

○ This measure will be in effect from 00:00 Feb. 12 until Apr. 30 and applies to goods produced and distributed as of 00:00 on Feb. 12.
- As such, manufacturers and distributors shall make reports via e-mail, fax, or online reporting system (nedrug.mfds.go.kr), with the first report (on stock produced and sold from 00:00 on Feb, 12) to be completed by 12:00 on Feb. 13.


□ The government will begin strict enforcement of the law through cross-governmental crackdown on the violation of the adjustment measure, intentional omission in reporting, or the tampering of transaction records and other illegal activities.
※ Failure to declare production and sales is subject to imprisonment with labor for up to two years or fine of up to 50 million won (Article 25 of the Price Stabilization Act), or imposition of administrative fine of up to 10 million won (Article 29 of the Price Stabilization Act)

○ To raise public awareness on this measure, the MFDS posted leaflets and the English and Mandarin version of the notification on the MFDS website and requested relevant ministries, local governments and organizations to promote the measure. We have also uploaded a video about the implementation of the measure on our YouTube channel.


□ The MFDS, together with the relevant authorities, will endeavor to support smooth distribution and ensure easy access to filtering respirators and hand sanitizers in the market.

○ For any inquiry related to the production and sales report procedures, please contact the MFDS’s Distribution Stabilization Team or our call center.