1. Reason for revision

As the Overseas Agriculture and Forest Resources Development and Cooperation Act has been revised (Law No. 19756; promulgated on October 24, 2023; implemented on October 25, 2024) such that, when the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Head of the Korea Forest Service order the operators of overseas agricultural resource development businesses and those of overseas forest resource development businesses to bring overseas agricultural resources and overseas forest resources into the country, the conditions of the import order should include losses arising from the implementation of the import order, and rapid revision of the Enforcement Rules is required for the matters delegated by the Act and their implementation.

2. Main contents

A. Overseas agricultural resources and overseas forest resource development projects shall be monitored (Newly established Article 6 of the draft).

1) Basic monitoring shall include monitoring to be conducted in accordance with the monitoring plan under Article 6 (2) of the draft, and occasional monitoring shall be conducted when the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs or the Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service deems it necessary in such cases that confirmation of the situation report under Article 10 is required.

2) The institution or organization entrusted with monitoring work shall establish a monitoring plan, including the period, content, and method, etc. of monitoring, and submit it to the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs or the Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service before conducting the monitoring work. 

3) The monitoring agency that performs the monitoring work shall submit the report on the results to the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs or the Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service within 30 days of completing the monitoring work. 

4) Other matters deemed necessary for monitoring procedures and methods may be determined and announced by the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs or the Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service.

B. Criteria for designation and cancellation of designation, etc. for international agricultural cooperation business support organizations, etc. (Newly established Articles 7 through 8 of the draft).

1) It prescribes that, in order to be designated as an international agricultural cooperation project support agency or an international forestry cooperation project support agency by the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs or the Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service, the business goals and plans shall be appropriate, a dedicated organization and professional personnel to independently perform the work shall be equipped with, an online work processing system shall be equipped with, and relevant research or business results to carry out the work shall be equipped with. 

2) When the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs or the Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service receives an application for designation, the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs or the Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service shall consider whether the designation criteria are met, whether the business performance capabilities are appropriate, and whether the purpose of establishment or area of activity is related to international agricultural and forestry cooperation projects, and shall make a decision on designation and inform the applicant of the result. 

3) “Work recognized as necessary by the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs for the efficient implementation of international agricultural cooperation projects” includes linkage between international agricultural cooperation projects and overseas agricultural resource development projects, support for the overseas dissemination of agricultural technology by domestic companies, overseas expansion of domestic companies, and support tasks such as winning orders for agricultural and rural-related projects. In addition, “the work recognized as necessary by the Minister of Korea Forest Service for the efficient promotion of international forestry cooperation projects” includes linkage between international forestry cooperation projects and overseas forest resource development projects, support for overseas dissemination of forestry technology by domestic companies, and support tasks such as winning orders for forest resource-related projects. 

4) If the designation standards are not satisfied by the designated agency, the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs or the Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service may place an order to supplement corresponding matters with designation of the period and, in the event of cancellation of the designation, the reason shall be sent to the designated agency in writing. 

C. Importation order, etc. and Importation Council (Newly established Article 9 and Article 9-2 of the draft)

1) The import order and the implementation plan shall be provided in Form 4 and Form 5 of the Attachment, respectively.

2) The Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs or the Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service may establish a council to discuss matters related to import orders, and matters regarding the composition and operation of the import council shall be determined by the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs or the Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service.

D. Loss Compensation Council (Newly established Article 10 of the draft)

1) The Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs or the Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service may establish a loss compensation deliberation committee to review and determine fair compensation for losses arising from the implementation of an import order.

2) Matters concerning the composition and operation of the Loss Compensation Council shall be determined by the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs or the Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service.

E. Claims for payment of compensation for losses, etc. (Newly established Article 11 of the draft)

1) Claims for payment of compensation for losses shall be submitted in Form 6 of the Attachment. 

2) When the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs or the Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service decides whether to pay compensation for losses and the amount, he or she shall prepare a loss compensation decision letter in Form 7 of the Attachment. 

3) When the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs or the Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service prepares a loss compensation decision letter, he or she shall send the letter to the applicant with an attachment of the loss compensation payment decision letter in Form 8, or the loss compensation denial letter in Form 9 of the Attachment, together with the original copy of loss compensation decision letter in Form 7 of the Attachment. 

4) Any person who wishes to file an objection to the loss compensation decision letter shall submit it to the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs or the Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service with an attachment of the “Request for objection against loss compensation” in Form 10 of the Attachment and data or materials that justify the reason for making such objection.