Suwon City Supports Inspection Costs for HACCP Certification Maintenance

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] Suwon City will support a portion of inspection costs for maintaining 'HACCP' (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) certification for small-scale food safety management certified businesses in the city through June.

HACCP is a system that proactively identifies and evaluates potential hazards at all stages—from raw material management to manufacturing and processing, distribution and sales—to prevent harmful substances from mixing with food or food from becoming contaminated, and to manage critical control points systematically.

The eligible businesses are 29 small-scale food manufacturers and processors (as of the previous year) operating within the city that have received food safety management certification and have either annual sales below 500 million won or fewer than 21 employees.

Support is provided for up to 360,000 won in inspection costs (60% of 600,000 won in inspection fees). Each business can receive cost support for up to two certified product categories (such as rice cakes and bread, kimchi, ready-to-eat foods, etc.).

Businesses seeking support must submit applications by June through mail (Sanitation Policy and Management Team, 241 Hyowon-ro, Paldal-gu, Suwon City), email (idreamj8@korea.kr), or fax (031-228-2396) with attachments including inspection result certificates, tax invoices, and bank account copies. For inquiries, contact the Sanitation Policy and Management Team (031-228-2676).

A city official stated, "By supporting a portion of inspection costs for HACCP certification maintenance for small-scale businesses, we will enhance food hygiene and safety," and added, "We hope this will be of some help to small-scale businesses that are facing difficulties due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic."

Validity testing for HACCP certification maintenance is conducted through microbial testing (bacteria, E. coli, etc.) and physicochemical testing, and must be performed once annually.