- Support of up to KRW 100 million for 225 companies for 50 types of export certifications

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) announced that it was recruiting interested companies for the 2026 Export Certification Acquisition Support Project from Thursday, February 5 to Friday, March 6.

The Export Certification Acquisition Support project aims to enhance the ability of Korean seafood export companies to respond to non-tariff barriers by supporting the acquisition of international certifications (e.g., vegan, halal, ethical management, etc.) that serve as export requirements in response to the demands of overseas consumers, buyers, and individual countries.

MOF will significantly expand both the types of international certifications (from 48 to 50) and the number of recipient companies (from 157 to 225) supported this year. Support of up to KRW 100 million will also be provided depending on the certification type. Supported certifications include 34 types of overseas food standard certifications to meet the export requirements of each country—such as Indonesia's halal certification system—and 16 types of strategic export certifications required by major overseas distributors including Costco.

* Overseas food standard certification (34 types): Halal (11), kosher (6), environmental certifications (5), quality standards (9, vegan, non-GMO, gluten-free, etc.,) FDA, FSSAI, and EFSA (New in 2026)
** Strategic export certification (16 types): Sustainable seafood (5 types, MSC, ASC, etc.), traceability (4 types, MSC-CoC, ASC-CoC, etc.), ethical management (4 types, ESG, NewSA8000, etc.), FSVP, VQIP, and AEO

Any company currently exporting or planning to export seafood products can receive certification support. Interested companies can apply through the seafood export support platform (http://biz.k-seafoodtrade.kr) by Friday, March 6.

“Consumer preferences and demands of major buyers in each country are non-tariff barriers to the export of Korean seafood products. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries will expand support for our seafood companies to develop export markets in various ways, including support for acquiring international certifications,” said Yang Young-jin, Director General for Fisheries Policy at MOF.